Echoes
by flammenwerfer14
Summary: SEQUEL to The Most Faithful Student: The gryphons attacked, war raged for a year, Twilight is presumed dead, and many are having weird dreams. Two weeks later, answers were sought as to why this war had to happen. Was it all out of jealousy and spite? Or was there something else? A darker, more sinister truth that would and still potentially could mean the demise of both nations?
1. Answers

**A/N: That's right! It's a sequel! I was toying with ideas for one and I believe I found one that would work. Now I'll be updating two stories at a time. Please R&R, as feedback will encourage better quality writing and encourage me to not get lazy.**

**Enjoy! **

* * *

Chapter 1: Answers

"There were eight rigged explosives in the capitol building," he said in an emotionless monotone. If you analyzed him further, one would notice a complexion of defeat and pure shame.

"Eight. Are you quite sure of your proclamation?" a female, royal voice inquired in a demanding and stern yet professional tone. There was still an underlying sense of conviction in her meaningless words.

"Yes. I personally oversaw and physically helped along the preparations of the improvised self destruct mechanism in the capitol building," he replied.

"And for what purpose were there eight depots of highly explosive materiel placed within the parameters of a civilian government office, along with stores of other weapons?" a second, younger sounding female voice of royal tone spoke out, fury evident in her tone masqueraded by professionalism.

"In the event the conflict was lost, the center of government would have been taken out, along with any incurring Equestrian forces," the first voice replied. This voice belonged to the lone gryphon in the grand room. The gryphon, the former Kaiser of the now dissolved Gryphon Kingdom stood in the center of a half circular set of high-sit benches. Directly high in front sat the Solar and Lunar Princesses of Equestria on the right and left thrones respectively. He was currently being tried by a royal and military tribunal. To the left and right of the princesses sat Equestrian Parliamentary figures and Military Leaders. The large meeting room was adequately lit, there also being a single light which shone on the gryphon himself, further accentuating the situation of his questionable fate.

"So, you of sound mind and impeccable resolve would willingly sacrifice yourself and become a martyr to which no one would care to remember? Gryphons are not known for taking the coward's way out. I am inclined to believe that there is something you are not divulging to us," Celestia spoke calmly but sternly. It had only been two weeks since that fateful day; that final battle where her faithful student, no, her best friend, was taken from her by the one who stood before her. It took every ounce of strength she had to not attack the gryphon on the spot.

"Pray tell; What subject matter do you still feel necessary to hide from us?" Luna added in. The other ponies on the tribunal leaned forward in anticipation. The gryphon sighed deeply. At this gesture, it was readily apparent that the former gryphon leader was indeed masking his intentions. Fidgetting a bit, Nightwing was scrunching his face in thought, as if attempting to formulate an articulation of said intentions. Luna was growing impatient and leaned forward to speak, but was calmed by Celestia raising a golden clad hoof to her. The gryphon then looked back to the two princesses and began to speak:

"The rigging of the capitol building was also designed to destroy communications and document based 'evidence.' Allow me to elaborate. I'm sure you are aware of the Changeling presence, correct?" Nightwing asked. At the mention of that name, everypony began to stir slightly and whisper amongst each other. Yes, there was the attack on Canterlot, but it appeared that that was not the only incident. Celestia furrowed her brow and her entire face formed into a pensive yet rather concerned demeanor. Luna held her hoof up and that silenced any miscellaneous chatter.

"Indeed, but what do the Changelings have to do with the year-long conflict that you enveloped us in completely by your own volition?" Luna asked, growing rather frustrated. This was his cue to continue:

"As you know, the Changelings have a presence in the West of your nation. Well, they have increased said presence over the last few years and moved in great numbers into Gryphonia's west, largely undetected. We only found out about their presence during a routine patrol of our borders," Nightwing began to explain. The princesses continued to listen attentively, wondering where he was going with this information.

"Upon finding their presence, and as per the shaky agreement our nations had since the beginning, our military launched an immediate offensive into the area to purge them. We succeeded, but only to have them return, stronger and in greater numbers. Soon, newer types of Changelings were being reported, stronger and more frightening than the usual drones that we were used to seeing. Casualties were adding up and it soon became apparent that something simultaneously wasn't adding up. These Changelings were different. They were organized, tactful, and deadly; especially when they began taking the form of our own troops," Nightwing explained. Celestia's brow arched and Luna sat forward in her seat.

"We made one final attempt in Changeling controlled territory. We received reports that something cataclysmic happened during an exchange between them and our troops, but we lost contact with our forces. The force of one thousand was never seen again. The Changeling incursions all but ceased for several years... So we thought. One year ago, a border base was attacked and completely destroyed. Thirty-five soldiers were massacred. Reinforcements came and engaged the attackers during the night. Upon advancing, the bodies were discovered to be those of Equestrian Royal Marines. They seemed much too strong though. Upon this discovery, we immediately broke diplomatic ties with you and declared war," Nightwing said, head hung low. There were many gasps from the ponies and the Princesses looked noticably perplexed and worried. They never ordered an incursion into the Gryphon Kingdom.

"It was halfway into the war that autopsy reports came back from the bodies of whom we thought were your your soldiers. They were Changelings. Soon after, Changelings began coming back to the reclaimed lands, but quietly. We saw this as an opportunity to rid two enemies at once, and use the resources gained from your country to combat the growing Changeling threat. That, obviously did not go as planned," Nightwing finished. The two princesses took in this information and then began to speak:

"That's everything then, correct?" Celestia asked.

"Yes, the complete truth and all that I know," Nightwing stated, looking the Solar Princess in the eyes. Sensing no deception from him, Luna then spoke:

"I find it most unfortunate that your nation's pride got in the way when you broke down diplomacy. Even worse that you continued the conflict when you found out the truth. This could have all been avoided... We could have been allies against this threat. After all, we have been fighting the Changeling insurgency for a few years since the assault on Canterlot. Because of your pride and perverted views of others, 100,000 ponies, 210,000 gryphons, and one of the Elements of Harmony are dead!" Luna raised her voice, especially at the mention of the last part. She smashed her hoof on her throne to further accentuate her anger. Celestia said nothing, but was noticably fuming, and Nightwing merely hung his head low and said nothing as well. Luna was right. They could have eliminated the Changeling threat together, then go back to hating each other like the good old days. For once, he saw himself in the wrong. He finally lifted his dark feathered head to meet the gaze of Luna.

"The information you have supplied is most helpful and imperative, but you still must answer for your crimes against basic sentient rights," Luna said with no emotion in her voice. She had too many thoughts running through her mind at that time to have any energy to put into her inflection. She never wanted to believe that her soldiers' deaths... Twilight's death, was in vain. Had Nightwing died in the attack on Carpathia, this information would have been lost, and who knows what horrors Equestria would inevitably be subjected to. Maybe Twilight didn't die for nothing after all. Nightwing continued to say nothing as he met the gazes of both princesses. He felt at this point, whatever was to be decided for him, he deserved his fate.

"Kaiser Eric Nightwing of the now dissolved Gryphon Kingdom, you are charged with Crimes Against Basic Sentient Rights which include the deaths of over 100,000 ponies as well as an Element of Harmony, use of Chemical and Biological weapons to carry out the ruthless destruction by your war machine, and complete disregard for distinction between civilian and military entities. How do you plead?" Celestia asked as she read off his crimes. His answer is what shocked both of the princesses as well as the entire tribunal:

"Guilty," Nightwing stated with conviction. Luna merely stared at him, nothing being said for a good minute.

"Very well. Let it be known that the defendant pleads guilty as the final verdict. The punishment for the severity of these crimes is death by firing squad" Luna said in respone. As if on cue, four Equestrian Army unicorns appeared from a side door and gently walked in front of Nightwing, staring at him with no emotion in their eyes.

"I understand, Princess," Nightwing said calmly, completely accepting of his fate.

"Do you have any last statements you would like to declare?" Luna asked. He thought for a couple seconds.

"Yes. Yes I do."

"You may speak them now," Celestia replied.

"I know I am to be executed for my crimes, but I ask of your majesties one thing: This threat we face is unlike anything we have seen. If left unchecked, the Changelings will surely bring catastrophy far greater than what Discord or Nightmare Moon wrought. Please, find them, and destroy them. Save Equestria. Save the New Gryphon Republic. Save all who will remain after me," Nightwing stated with great resolve. The two princesses took his words to heart.

"You have our word, Nightwing," Luna stated with a softer voice.

"Thank you, that is all I ask... I'm ready," Nightwing said, bracing himself. Celestia nodded and then spoke:

"Soldiers, charge your magic," she ordered. The unicorn's horns glowed their respective color-auras.

"Aim," Celestia said. The soldiers got into firing stance. Nightwing closed his eyes and shot his hand out:

"D'aret Gryphonät öyevet zuf pfolz!"

"Fire!" Celestia said immediately. The magic bolts struck Nightwing in the chest and he fell down backwards, a calm expression of accepting death etched on his face.

"What did he say?" Luna asked Celestia.

"He said 'Lead the Gryphons to final victory' in their language of Gryphün," Celestia replied.

"Even in death, they are so prideful," Luna added.

"A blessing, yet a curse. I feel sorry that it had to end this way, but at least we got our answers." Celestia spoke with a softer tone.

"Indeed, sister, but will they lead us to the solutions? I fear Equestria may know conflict yet again."

"Only time will tell, Luna," Celestia replied as they exited the tribunal hall.

"Do you believe this Changeling threat holds merit?" Luna asked.

"Yes. The Changelings have caused problems for both our nations from the dawn of time. We might have to see to it that they are finished once and for all." Celestia said. Just then both princesses' ears flicked and they flinched.

"Did you hear that?" Celestia asked.

"Yes, it felt like a magical pulse of some sort... That was odd," Luna replied. They shook it off and returned to their conversation.

"We should probably verify this threat, though," Luna continued. Celestia nodded in agreement.

"Dispatch a unit to the far west. Let us see what we are dealing with..."


	2. Coincidence

Chapter 2: Coincidence

"Alright, fillies! Lock and load; Live action exercise, go!" the Drill Instructor bellowed to a line of mixed soldiers. One by one, they filtered into the live fire obstacle course. Rainbow Dash volunteered to be first in, and she ran in with vigor. The first phase was staying low. Folding her wings, she crawled prone in the dirt and mud under barbed wire and a hailstorm of rubber bullets and magic projectiles. Used to speed her entire life, she had not been used to taking it slow; Twilight taught her that virtue. Keeping herself calm and collected, she made her way through the range, a small smile on her face.

"Let's go! We don't have all day! Show us you earned that rank of Captain, move!"

Phase Two: Hoof-to-Hoof combat. Several dummies were magically spawned, dummies which behaved like ponies and gryphons. They all rushed her at once, attempting to strike her. The one rule of the live action exercise was that one had to complete the course within an allotted time, and they could not get struck or shot. Bearing this in mind, Dash evaded and blocked the attacks of her pseudo-assailants with finesse, countering and tactfully dispatching all seven targets in a record time of one minute, thirty-two seconds. She continued onward with a few grunts, an indicator of strenuous activity.

"Impressive, but you are not through yet! Keep moving, damnit!"

She continued onward into Phase Three: agility. Her objective was to get to the other side while avoiding various objects and other surprises being thrown her way. Upon entering, a cinderblock almost collided with her face, but she dropped prone just in time. She sprinted forward only to jump and somersault over a wood beam that was sent flying at her. Upon landing, a cement filled bag was sent hurtling towards her, and perpendicular to that, a large stone was flying towards her, both attempting to politely introduce themselves to her face. She flared her wings and cart wheeled out of the way of the cement bag and used the momentum to put herself into a roll, dodging the stone just in time. She galloped forward and suddenly a machine gun spawned directly in her path. Her eyes widened but instinct made her drop prone. The gun sprayed rubber bullets over her and she rolled out from under the volley of rubber. Almost at the end, she continued to gallop and she spotted two rubber tipped spears shooting at her from opposite directions. Flaring her wings, she jumped and somersaulted in the air just in time to feel the rush of wind from the spears barely missing her and instead colliding with each other. Sticking her landing, she sprinted to the last and final phase.

"Outstanding! One more phase to go, you might just set a record for the course!"

She slipped on her opposable digits to her hoof and fixed her weapon. During the war, although the ponies had magic at their disposal, they were still at a disadvantage. The gryphons had opposable digits (they had hands/claws), and the ponies did not. While ponies could pick things up with one hoof, it was too large for any weapon other than a sword. To correct this, all ponies were issued two removable opposing digits for their forehooves which were magically developed by weapons manufacturers. They could be removed, but they would retract when on all fours. After loading her rifle, she stepped onto the range for Phase Four: Live Fire. She was to dispatch all the dummy targets that would be shooting at her with their own rifles. Only difference was that they would be using rubber bullets, she would not. Dash galloped to the nearest cover and stood against it, up on her hind legs (all ponies were now trained in this skill, and pegasi were actually very adept at this, since they were lighter and more agile). She was immediately fired upon. Holding her weapon close, she shifted to the parallel cover. She leaned out, aimed, and fired, dropping one of the targets. Six more to go. The fire stopped to signal reloading, and she ran out, rifle in hooves, but staying low and hitting the low cover. She aimed over and took three shots: One. Two. Three. Three more targets to go. Everypony was thoroughly impressed. She got into prone position under the fire and rolled out sideways, still lying prone. Before the bot could adjust fire, Rainbow Dash took two shots, one hitting it in the abdomen, the other piercing its torso, passing through, and striking another bot in the head as it was passing behind the first in order to shift its position. She mustered a small grin at this and her audience gave her a small cheer. One more target to go. She did a quick check and got on her hooves. Aiming down range, she saw nothing. She ran ahead about twenty yards and aimed out again. Nothing. She then continued to run forward. What Dash did not know was that the last dummy was a sharpshooter. She ducked behind cover, scanned, but did not see anything. Nervousness taking her over, she bounded out of cover and continued to advance. Just then a shot rang out.

"AAAHH!" Dash screamed as the rubber projectile struck her in the chest and she went down hard, dropping her rifle, and face planting into the mud in excruciating pain. Many "oooooooh!"'s were heard from her audience as they felt her pain. She had actually been shot during the war and she found this more painful, since the pain did not knock her out this time. Go figure.

"Still a very impressive display, Rainbow Dash. Better luck next time!" The drill instructor said as Dash was helped off the field. She got some water and sat on her flank, still panting and clutching her now bruising wound.

"Still as stellar as always, I see," a dark teal unicorn with a black mane said as he walked up to her. Upon seeing him, a smile etched its way on her face.

"Hey there, Helm! Sorry I'm all dirty, wounded, and not really presentable at the moment," Rainbow Dash said in a happy tone, extending her hoof out for a hug, to which he embraced her. Looking back on everything, he really had grown close with everypony.

"Implying you're presentable at all," Helmuth added in, earning a glare from Dash. They chuckled a bit, but then he got serious. He sat down in front of her.

"How're you holding up?" he asked sincerely. She met his gaze with a smile of appreciation for his concern. After all, it had been rough on him too.

"It's been... Tough. Things are different without her. Some days I expect... Or hope, rather, that I'd wake up for training and she would be there, rallying our squad," Dash stated matter-of-factly. Helmuth had noticed that she seemed a lot more calm, collected, focused, and organized recently.

"You seem a lot more 'with it'. Coming to terms?" he asked. She took note of her surroundings and then leaned closer to him.

"Can I tell you something? You have to promise that you won't think I'm crazy," Dash said softly. He arched his brow slightly but nodded in earnest.

"Last night, I had a dream... About her. I have had many, but this one... This one was different," she began to say.

_Rainbow Dash started awake suddenly as she found herself in an open clearing. This was already very odd, considering that she does not even sleep on the ground. Looking around, she was by her lonesome... Or so she thought. _

_"Geez, I thought you would never wake up!" an all too familiar voice, clear as day, sounded from behind her. It sent chills down her spine. Upon turning around, there stood her late marefriend, casting her signature smile. _

_"Tw-Twilight?" Rainbow said cautiously, walking closer towards her._

_"You know it, Dashie!" Twilight said as she pranced around playfully. Dash was still in shock. She never had the ability to actually speak in her dreams. She stood there, slack-jawed, unable to properly formulate a proper response. Twilight only giggled at this._

_"What's wrong, Dash? You look like you coughed up your own twin," Twilight said jokingly. This brought Rainbow back into the situation._

_"I miss you, Twi," Dash said in a somewhat sad tone. Twilight only trot up to her and put her hoof on Dash's chest. It felt so real._

_"Do not worry about me, Dashie. I'm just fine, make no mistake of it," Twilight said with a sincere smile. Dash took her words to heart before she spoke again:_

_"Did it... Hurt? You know, when you..." Twilight put a hoof to her mouth to stop her sentence._

_"No. It didn't. There was no pain involved. Just remember, Dashie: I'm alright," Twilight said, nuzzling her before she turned and started walking away._

_"Where are you going?" Rainbow asked anxiously._

_"It's time for you to wake up. Don't worry about me, I am well," Twilight said with a wink before everything faded into light._

So, after that and her reassurance, I know that she is in a better place... That she's okay. I guess that is just what I needed for closure," Dash said. Helm never averted his gaze from her as he listened intently. He attempted to find the words to say his next sentence.

"What if I told you that I essentially had the exact same dream last night?" he asked with a soft tone. Dash perked up at this immediately.

"You're either fuckin' me or this is too weird to be a coincidence," Dash said in a fast but sarcastic manner.

"Well, Twilight was doing the first part, so obviously I agree with your second hypothesis," Helm stated dryly, earning a glare from Dash again, but she could not help but giggle a bit.

"Your gryphon wit shows. Har har har," Dash replied. "Rest in peace, Twilight."

"Rest in peace, my dear friend," Helmuth reitterated. Dash turned her attention back to him.

"What do you think about our dreams?" Rainbow Dash asked. He shook his head lightly.

"I'm not sure, but like you said, it's too coincidental. We'll have to ask the other girls, and maybe even the princess if these dreams continue," Helm suggested, to which Dash nodded in agreement.

"On that note, actually, I had also come to speak with you because the princesses gave us a mission," he told her, getting her attention.

"What kind of mission?" she asked. He then tossed her a helmet.

"Suit up, Dash. We're going to the far west."


	3. First Recon

Chapter 3: First Recon

Thump-Thump. Thump-Thump. That was all Hemuth could hear right now. There was nothing, just a void of unforgiving darkness. Thump-Thump. Thump-Thump. Like a constant reminder that something else was there. It would not leave him alone. Thump-Thump. It reminded him of a... Heartbeat? After every beat, the void would slightly lighten up in synchronization. What was this supposed to mean? Helmuth then awoke with a start to somepony tapping his shoulder. These dreams were getting more strange by the day. Dash had woken him up while they were on a chariot in transit to Canterlot Palace. He must have been tired to fall asleep so suddenly. Quickly getting over the startling sensation, he checked his surroundings to survey where they were, still in that ten-second post wake-up daze. Helm would definitely have to bring up this dream as well when the time allowed it. Rubbing his eyes, he turned to the source of his awakening.

"We're here, Helm," Rainbow Dash said softly. He nodded and they both stepped out of the chariot, both of them gazing up at the palace. It had seen a few changes during and immediately after the war. It was rennovated a bit to look more like a fortress, with more observation towers, a few guns and cannons, as well as the normal presence of royal guards here and there. The two had been briefed on the Changeling threat and were asked to come see the princesses for more detailed instructions. Gaining clearance, they entered the castle without incident as they made their way down the familiar path towards Celestia's study. Upon arriving, they were greeted by both princesses.

"Great to see you two! I trust that Celestia briefed you on what we know about the Changeling threat?" Luna greeted and asked the team of two.

"Yes Luna. Other than that, all we know is that you would like us to venture to the far west, but not really what you would like us to do when there," Helmuth replied. The two princesses nodded in response and Celestia began to speak:

"We now know of the potential threat, but we need to find out where the Changelings are getting their sudden strength from before we launch any clearing operation. Based on what we have for intelligence, not much is making any sense. So, we would like you to get over there and see if you can uncover anything," she explained. Everypony else nodded in acceptance. Helmuth continued to have a ton of thoughts running through his head at once. This new threat with the Changelings had him a bit unnerved. He could stand in the face of the former Gryphon Empire's mighty war machine without fear, but somehow, he felt this 'insurgency' of Changelings would yield a much different and daunting experience. No matter. After all, this is what he signed up for.

"Rules of engagement?" Dash asked the princesses. It was crucial to know exactly what was expected of them.

"No different than before. You are only doing recon at the moment, so you may return fire if fired upon. Do not commence an engagement unless we tell you, or not doing so would hamper your efforts," Celestia replied.

"Very well then. Is that all, or shall we depart immediately?" Helmuth asked. The Solar and Lunar princesses beckoned the two to follow them, which they complied immediately.

"No, there's a couple things, actually, the first being some new equipment for you," Celestia said with her head turned back towards them, smiling. Dash and Helm visibly perked up at this. After all, who doesn't like brand new stuff to use?

"Aww hell yeah!" Rainbow Dash bellowed rather expressively, getting the others to laugh. With that, they arrived at the palace armory. Both of them widened their eyes at the most extensive weapon and equipment selection they had ever seen. It was like looking at a filly in a candy store. The princesses giggled a bit at seeing their expressions.

"These weapons have just been put into mass production. Help yourselves to whatever you like and can carry. It will be yours to keep. Just remember we're going on recon, not all out war," Luna said. Dash and Helm then gave her a look of confusion.

"What do you mean 'we?'" Dash asked.

"Oh yeah, that was the second thing. I'm coming with you two," Luna replied in a non-chalant manner as she fitted a uniform on.

"Really?! That's awesome!" Dash said with great inflection.

"Damn right it is. Besides, I could use the exercise. Now get loaded up. We have a lot of ground to cover," Luna said, and they both nodded and fit their equipment. After slipping on their uniforms they went to choose their weapons. Rainbow Dash fitted herself with a CTR-3 DMR (Designated Markscolt Rifle) which had a detatchable optical scope. They were on a scouting mission and it would probably come in handy, especially since she was recognized for her accuracy. As a secondary, she equipped an HtP-46, a relatively small and lightweight assault rifle. Helmuth was a classical soldier through amd through, but a rather deadly one at that. He favored accuracy and power over volume of fire, so it was no surprise that he set his eyes on the new Z-72 "gentlecolt" bolt-action rifle, a long rifle whose raw power would reportedly knock an adversary clean off their feet (or hooves). He also sheathed its bayonet in his belt. He fell back on his standard issue pistol as a sidearm which he was issued upon joining his new unit (HOOF was disbanded during times of peace). Luna strapped her usual magic enhanced automatic long rifle to her back (it was personally made for her, so it was one of a kind and thus had no name. Luna referred to it as her 'boomstick'). Much to everypony's surprise, she summoned her personal Lunar sword, which she sheathed to her side. It was a short sword that has a black hilt with her cutie mark and coat of arms engrained on opposite sides in blue, as well as a metallic blue blade which had a black steel weave. Dash and Helm were floored by its sheer beauty. Then, the three of them grabbed other essentials such as water canteens, binoculars, ammunition, etc. Dash opted to wear an Equestrian Special Forces officer's cap, which was blue like her uniform. Luna disregarded her crown/tiara and fitted an army beret to her head, her horn poking through, while Helmuth preferred a standard helmet. They were all ready to go.

"Well then, shall we depart?" Luna asked, to which Dash and Helm nodded. Nodding back, she turned to Celestia.

"Take care of the castle while I'm gone, dear sister," Luna said jokingly. Celestia merely rolled her eyes.

"I did it for a thousand years while you were on the moon," Celestia replied indignantly.

"Well do it better please. You did not even fix up my room since we had that battle. I came home to a wreck. Who does that?" Luna added with a grin, knowing exactly how to get under her older sister's skin.

"The mare who's gonna send you right back to the moon if you don't shut your hole," Celestia answered with a calm tone and a grin. Luna laughed and walked out of the armory with the two other ponies and on to the chariot landing bay.

The ride to Equestria's far west was not a terribly long journey by chariot, at least to where their drop point was. The western region of Equestria was quite populated, but the far west beyond Manehattan and Las Pegasus was largely left undiscovered and unsettled due to the large mountains and another expanse of forest. This was further accentuated when the Changelings would raid any surveying or settling party when they would get too close, but this was thousands of years ago. Since the royal wedding, there had been very few sightings of them. Depending on what the three ponies were to discover in Changeling territory would determine whether it would be feasible to launch a military operation in the area and stop the possible threat from progressing any further. The team of three was dropped about two miles from the fictitious line of demarcation between West and Far West Equestria... And that was exactly how it was known: Far West Equestria. They all landed in a grassy field with the enormous mountain and creepy forest in the distance.

"Everypony in one piece? Good. Let's move," Luna said as they checked their equipment and began to gallop towards the forest edge. Not much chatter was had at this point, at least until they reached the end of the clearing next to the forest about fifteen minutes later. It was about four in the afternoon at this point.

"Let us find a good place to make camp deeper in the forest. It will be easier to scout around during the night," Luna said, Dash and Helm nodding in agreement.

"Is the forest dangerous on the border?" Dash asked.

"No idea, but I do not wish to take any chances. It would be wise to ready our weapons," Luna replied. With that, the three of them took their weapons and loaded them in their own unique fashion. Rainbow Dash let her DMR remain on her back for later as she slammed a magazine into her assault rifle, pulling the charging bolt. Helmuth delicately pulled the bolt back on his rifle and used a stripper clip to load five rounds before sliding the bolt forward again, also fixing the bayonet. Luna slid a magazine into her rifle before pressing the slide release, arming it. Ready for anything, they all cautiously tread through the forest, rifles in hoof.

Due to the amount of trees and other wild brush, progress was slow as they had to make sure and constantly check that they weren't being watched. Luna would send out magic sweeps to detect any other life, but since the Changelings could wield magic, they could mask themselves if they wanted to. So in actuality, they had to constantly survey their surroundings. After about three hours of grueling marching and barely getting four miles in, the trio decided to set up camp. Celestia would take over Luna's responsibility of raising the moon while she was gone, so no other duties would distract them. After eating a light meal, they decided it was time for a little nap to reenergize themselves before they did their scouting at around midnight. As they were all sitting around a fire, the topic became fresh on Helm's mind and he decided to bring it up with Luna.

"Hey Luna?"

"Helmuth?" Luna acknowledged with a smile.

"Dash and I have been having... Weird dreams, and we thought you or Celestia would be the proper ones to talk to," he continued to say. Luna seemed genuinely interested in the subject now, not that she did not enjoy talking to them, but this was interesting because she too was having odd dreams.

"Oh? What do these dreams of yours entail?"

"The first dream, Helm and I had the exact same one. It was where we were in a field and Twilight came to us. We talked with her for a while but she kept reitterating that she was okay. To me it seems she reached out magically to give us closure... To tell us that she's in a better place and she is alright," Dash said and hypothesized. Luna took this in and nodded at the thought. Before she could speak up, Helmuth spoke again:

"On the way over to the palace, I dozed off. I was in a black void and all I heard was a gargantuan heartbeat. And in synchronization, the void would course with light. That is all I saw," Helm explained. Luna was thinking even harder now as silence fell, the only sound being the crackling of the fire.

"I'm not entirely sure what to think at this point. Truth be told, I too have been having strange dreams. We will have to discuss this in detail with Celestia when we return. Keep note of any other strange dreams you have. Thank you for bringing this to my attention, as this seems too odd to be a coincidence," Luna replied. Dash and Helm nodded and silence once again enveloped the trio.

"I don't know about you, but if I'm to be any use, I need to catch a couple hours of shut-eye," Helmuth said with a groggy voice before he laid down.

"That would probably help, actually," Luna agreed. Dash also nodded in agreement.

"Alrighty then," Dash said as she put the fire that they made, out. "See you in a couple hours," she continued.

"Indeed," Luna responded before they all laid their heads down to rest, falling asleep almost instantly from the expendature of physical energy of the day.

About an hour into their nap, something was rustling the nearby bushes, but very lightly with the obvious intent of not being seen. A very dark quadraped with immistakeably bright green eyes peered at the resting trio before it muttered a single word:

"Hostiles..."


	4. The Nightmare

**A/N: Here you go, guys/gals! A nice long read for you. I enjoyed writing this chapter for several reasons. I was toying with a few ideas and I thought this through thoroughly, so hopefully this will play out well. I'm curious to your guys' reactions, so please R&R if you would be so inclined. **

* * *

Chapter 4: The Nightmare

Luna never actually went to sleep as she told the other two, since she was more nocturnal. However, she knew that Helmuth would not let her stay up on her lonesome if she volunteered to watch over the temporary encampment while they napped. She had to admit, she had grown rather fond of the gryphon turned pony, and it was quite obvious that he grew quite fond of the Lunar Princess. They connected subtlety on more ways than one, and the interesting thing was that they had not spoken as often as they'd like, but only for the reason that there was no need to. They understood each other, being very stoic, sarcastic, and other times, eccentric. Words sometimes were not necessary to carry out certain actions. She smiled at the thought as she laid with her eyes open, prodding her magic out into the wilderness. She couldn't sense anything at the moment, but she was on full alert with her rifle close by as her two comrades slept. She sat up a bit so she could adjust her beret. Looking at the position of the moon, she could tell the time was around eleven-thirty, and thus they would have to soon continue onwards. Content on letting them sleep for another half an hour, she decided to lie back down again until she heard a hissing, chilling voice:

"Hostiles…"

Luna's eyes shot open immediately and she bounded out of her makeshift bed, rolled to her rifle and armed it with finesse, pushing the slide release and aiming it towards the area of the disturbance. The sudden rustling by Luna had also woken up the other two members of the scouting party.

"Luna, what's wrong?" Rainbow Dash asked with concern, seeing Luna's shifty-eyed facial expression and rifle at the ready.

"What's going on?" Helmuth also added as he came out of his sleep. Luna motioned to their weapons.

"To arms. We have company," Luna replied stoically, to which Dash and Helmuth complied, arming their weapons and the three of them standing in close to each other, scanning everywhere and hugging their backs to the trees. Suddenly a green magic bolt was shot and struck the tree in a place right above Rainbow Dash's head, making her duck behind cover. Immediately after, a dozen Changelings rushed into the encampment from all directions, hell-bent on taking no prisoners and opening fire on the three of them.

"Weapons free!" Luna commanded as they engaged their attackers. A bolt passed right by Luna as she turned and put two rounds into the chest of her shooter, silencing it, while another was attempting to take shots at her. She ducked behind cover to have Rainbow Dash come to her aid. The Changeling changed its focus to her and charged its horn, to which Dash responded by peppering it with her assault rifle, having it drop lifelessly in a hissing groan. Helmuth had managed to fire off one round which nearly took off the head of his first attacker before he was tackled to the ground by two other Changelings. He quickly rolled out from under them and swung the bayonet-fixed rifle, slicing the leg of one of his assailants before he smacked it in the face with the butt of his rifle. Luna peeked out of her tree cover to fire three more rounds into another Changeling which was about to shoot Helmuth in the back, alleviating the pressure he was under enough for him to recover and jam the bayonet into a retreating Changeling. The three drew in closer and closer to each other, getting assaulted from all directions by green magic-fire by some reinforcements, taking covered shots and slowly adding to the body count. As the attacking numbers were thinning out, a larger looking Changeling broke through their hailstorm of fire and tackled Luna to the ground with frightening force. Dash still engaging the remaining attackers, Helmuth immediately came to her aid and plunged the bayonet into the neck of the unusually large creature, to which it only became more enraged, swinging its head free of the blade, its horn cutting Helmuth lightly on his chest. Luna punched the creature off of her, to which Helm pulled his trigger on its chest, making it recoil back due to the force of his weapon, making it bleed profusely but only once again further enraging it. It took more magic shots at Luna and Helm as the two scurried to cover, and before it could charge again, its body was suddenly ravaged by about twenty direct hits from Rainbow Dash's assault rifle, at last ending the Changeling's life. She ran to the two of them to make sure they were okay, which they were (save for a few scratches and small cuts), before they checked their surroundings again. When they were sure they were alone this time, they checked the seventeen bodies of the Changeling patrol, which were the result of the two and a half-minute skirmish.

"Is it just me, or were these Changelings rather crappy shots?" Dash spoke.

"From the looks of it, they were drones. Drones are relatively poor shots when compared to a modern Equestrian or Gryphon soldier, but they have numbers on their side, plus they're ferocious mêlée fighters, making them deadlier all the same," Helmuth explained.

"Even so, I distinctly heard voices before we were attacked. Drones cannot speak in their own form and none of them had morphed. They can only hiss like a snake, and snakes don't say 'Hostiles' in a creepy voice," Luna spoke in an uneasy way.

"Hey, here's the body of that large Changeling that took like thirty fatal shots to bring down!" Dash spoke up, prompting them to go investigate. The Changeling was analogous to a very large stallion, larger than even Big Macintosh. It was very muscular and upon doing some magical prodding (courtesy of Luna), they found out that it indeed had the ability to speak.

"These must be the new 'Soldier' Changelings we have researched. These must be one of the new types of Changeling out there," Luna deduced.

"Soldier Changelings?" Helmuth asked.

"Yes, Helm. Very broad and muscular, keen eyesight and amazing tacticians. Very accurate in ranged combat and very powerful in mêlée combat. I have a feeling we will be seeing many more of these as we trek on," Luna explained. The other two seemed to wear a puzzled look on their faces.

"Come. We have a job to do, and I believe it is in our best interests to not remain in the same location any longer," Luna coaxed as she motioned for Dash and Helm to follow, the two nodding in agreement as they all continued to advance farther into the forest. They placed their weapons on their backs for now in order to get better distance. Luna's mirror was being contacted:

"Luna, how's everything?" Celestia said, her familiar face taking up the space on Luna's mirror.

"We were engaged by a Changeling squad and dispatched them. We have confirmed the existence of the Soldier Changelings," Luna answered. Celestia pondered these words a bit before speaking again:

"Very well. Keep pressing forward with the mission and contact me if any new developments arise," Celestia said.

"If I don't die," Luna replied sarcastically.

"Oh piss off, Lulu," Celestia waved her hoof dismissively.

"Love you too, Celly," Luna replied before closing contact.

Their objective was farther west of their current position. To refresh everypony, Luna had showed them an official Solar scroll with their mission details:

_A week and a half after war's end, some weather Pegasi were doing a routine fly over the Far West in order to determine places that needed more or less cloud coverage and rain when they reported unusual lighting and activity deep within the forest. A large company National Guard soldiers was sent to investigate to make sure insurgent loyalist Gryphons were not attempting to launch a last ditch assault. No gryphon troops were reported in the area of the disturbance, but soon after that report came in, High Command completely lost contact with all 220 troops of Lamda Company, Equestrian National Guard. After the military trial of Kaiser Nightwing, we are certain the Changelings are culpable. Make your way to the site of the unusual activity and attempt to determine the Changeling strength, the source of their sudden surge in strength, and determine the fate of Lamda Company._

_Celestia_

With that in mind, the three continued west at a comfortable pace. Rainbow Dash was taking point this time, and during a routine glance behind her, she noticed Luna subconsciously move closer to Helmuth, to which the latter had no objections to. Dash smirked a bit as she was starting to put things together. On another glance back, she noticed Helmuth looked uneasy.

"You okay there, Helm?" Dash asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine, but I had the same dream again when we were napping," he replied.

"Pray tell, Helmuth," Luna added.

"It was the exact same dream as this morning, but it was... Stronger and more vivid, and it was as if I could feel Twilight's magical aura around me. It was so real and it's driving me insane!" Helmuth explained in a frustrated tone of voice. Just then the three of them all grasped their heads in pain. Another magical pulse.

"What the hell was that!?" Rainbow Dash exclaimed, rubbing her temples and taking her hat off, letting her mane flow freely.

"My... Head," Helmuth groaned as he rubbed his eyes.

"A magical pulse. Celestia and I have been experiencing these as well, albeit not as strong as this one. We are not sure of the implications of them," Luna added as she too rubbed her head. Before they could discuss any further, Dash spied a forest clearing.

"Hey check it out. A clearing, right where our objective should be," Dash pointed out.

"Indeed. I do not remember hearing of any clearings. Let us get a better look," Luna replied as she took point. They all exited the clearing with weapons drawn. They were not at all prepared for what they saw. It was an enormous temple at the center of the gargantuan clearing. Easily a couple hundred feet in height, the mysterious temple had two statues of Nightmare Moon adorning its large entrance. The three stood with mouths agape.

"Nightmare Temple... Oh no... Please let me be incorrect," Luna muttered in a panic, almost inaudibly.

"Nightmare Temple? What's wrong, Luna?" Helmuth asked frantically. Luna did not answer him, but instead contacted Celestia.

"What's going on, Luna?" Celestia asked.

"Tia, it's Nightmare Temple," Luna uttered in an uneasy tone. There was no response as Luna showed her the temple in front of them. The group had to quickly duck back into the clearing as a platoon sized group of Changelings was passing in the front courtyard. An eerie silence was in place for a good few minutes. Celestia finally spoke:

"This is the lost Nightmare Temple... And the Changelings have obviously occupied it. Are you suggesting that..." Celestia began to say, fumbling for words and reading her sister's thoughts.

"Yes I am, Celly. I think it's The Nightmare," Luna confirmed, which was met with a heavy sigh from Celestia. Helmuth and Dash looked at each other, both very confused. At that moment, something caught Rainbow Dash's attention to her left.

"Well, I think we found part of Lamda Company," Dash said, gaining everypony's attention. Looking to the left, they laid eyes on about six bodies, clad in Equestrian National Guard uniform. Upon examining the bodies, one of them caught Dash's eye. It was a unicorn which looked oddly familiar: Bolt, her second in command on her first mission before the war. This saddened her greatly, for he was a great soldier. Celestia took note of this from the mirror and nodded somberly.

"Lamda Company, destroyed. Very well. Grab their Hoof Tags and exit the forest," Celestia began to explain. Helm went for one of the tags but couldn't find them. Thinking they were under the body, he prodded it to flip the deceased over. However, right when his hoof touched the body, it's eyes shot open, revealing a bright emerald green. Helmuth literally jumped back ten feet, earning the attention of everypony. The body then got up in its hooves, along with the other five, all sporting green eyes and grins of pure bloodlust.

"Celestia, we have to go, we've just been ambushed," Luna said in a panic, readying her weapon. Celestia had seen the whole thing and was horrified. She nodded and cut contact. The three of them stood with weapons at the ready, aiming at the pseudo-Equestrian Soldiers.

"You are fools to return here," one of the bright green-eyed soldiers spat.

"We will ensure you perish here," another Changeling stated coldly in the voice of the late soldier.

"You know not what power is vested here, you foolish cretins," Luna shot back. The masqueraded enemies only snarled as they drew the weapons of the deceased soldiers, aiming them at Luna, Dash, and Helm. They all dashed for cover amongst the trees, Dash flying into the tree tops, and a firefight began immediately. The belligerents were taking pop-shots at each other behind trees, and the gunfire was undoubtedly attracting the attention of the other changeling forces around the temple. Helmuth was able to land a shot from his rifle in the torso of an adversary, killing it instantly. After that lucky shot, the trio was able to advance back towards the clearing, slowly wiping out the false ENG soldiers, especially with Dash having the height advantage. Soon, Luna had shot and injured the last of the soldiers, the Bolt reincarnate. It was bleeding and mortally wounded on the ground, Luna looking down on it.

"Your world will burn, you along with it," it stated in a venomous tone before Luna put it out of its misery. Just as they feared, a whole company of Changelings was advancing towards them from the temple. Once again, they were going to have to fight their way out. Upon seeing this, Luna used her magic to lift a very large tree trunk and place it flat in front of them as cover.

"Dash! Get to the branches above us and use your assault rifle to support us while we dig in behind this log. Fire on my order!" Luna ordered. Dash flew up and readied her rifle again. She made a mental note to thank herself for packing extra ammunition. Luna and Helmuth aimed their rifles out and over the giant tree truck. They had not been physically seen yet so they had the element of surprise. They reloaded and aimed at the advancing horde of about 225 Changelings. Helmuth turned to Luna.

"If we die here, I just wanted you to know that I always thought your night sucked," Helm said sarcastically, making Luna giggle involuntarily.

"You're a horrible liar, I hope you know that," Luna replied, making Helmuth smirk. Luna then gave the order.

"Weapons free!" she bellowed. The three opened fire on the Changelings, decimating the first row. Helmuth's rounds were passing through multiple opponents while Dash was peppering them with her assault rifle. They tried to return fire, shooting their magic bolts at them, but they were inaccurate shots. They could not take the time to aim or they risked being shot down by one of the three ponies. There were many soldier Changelings leading groups of drones, but the trio would merely concentrate fire on them individually, which ultimately made short work of them. With no cover in the clearing, the Changelings were suffering horrendously. Many were trying to use the bodies of their fallen comrades as cover, but to no avail. After about five minutes, the Changelings numbers dwindled to about twenty and they began to retreat back to the temple. Luna would have none of it, but there was one problem: The three of them were down to their last magazine. Dash had even used her DMR and was essentially out as well. However, whatever was going on inside this temple, needed to end now.

"Fix bayonets!" Luna shouted as she strapped her gun to her back and unsheathed her Lunar Sword. Helm fixed his bayonet and Dash unsheathed a knife. The three then bounded out of cover and after the retreating Changelings, running over the carnage. Helmuth used his last four rounds to cut a few of them down while Luna was able to magically pull several of them back. Dash flew after the remaining ones and tackled them with great force. She pulled one of the drones high in the sky with her before dropping it, ending its life upon impact, before flying down to skirmish again. Save again for bruises and cuts, they were able to cut down the remaining Changelings with their blades unscathed. Although they were out of breath, sore, and out of ammunition, something caught their attention at the temple entrance. Turning to face it, the three gazed upon a lone Changeling... But once again, it was different. It was slightly larger than a drone, but not as large as a Soldier. It had a slender build, hinting that it was rather acrobatic and agile. It had some metal armor on it with a form-fitting helmet on top of its head, still sporting the signature green eyes. Luna once again uttered one word:

"Mind-ling"

"A what?" Dash asked, the creature advancing towards them.

"A Mind-ling is a Changeling that is very adept in magic. It takes the form of its adversaries' most prominent figure in their life, toying with their mind, hence the name," Luna explained. Helmuth and Dash looked at her in confusion, but they got their answer immediately. The Mind-ling cast its gaze on Dash first and grinned before enveloping itself in magic. The three instantly took several steps back, horrified at the results:

The magic dissipated to reveal a purple unicorn with a lavender mane that had a lone pink stripe running down to its bangs. It had a cutie mark of a sparkling star and very toned hind legs and flank. The false Twilight Sparkle opened her eyes with a very malicious smile to reveal bright emerald orbs for eyes before back-flipping onto her hind legs and striking Twilight's signature fighting stance, violet-aura magic coursing around her horn and forehooves. Luna, Helm, and Dash were at a complete loss of words. However, the staring contest was short lived.

"I'll peel the flesh from your bones!" 'Twilight' said as she charged them with a war cry which took the form of her own voice just as they remembered it. She began wailing on them with her HOOF trained hoof-to-hoof combat, nearly knocking Dash out with a sucker punch before Helmuth and Luna forced 'Twilight' off of her, knocking it to the ground. Luna was able to land a strong hoof to her face before she swung her sword downwards only to have it caught with precision accuracy right between 'Twilight's' hooves before her rear hoof collided with Luna's crotch, manipulating her weight and rolling her back off of her and onto her back. Luna rolled out of the way (albeit in excruciating pain) just in time before 'Twilight' brought her hind hoof down to where her face was. Helmuth swung his bayonet equipped rifle at 'Twilight' before she back-flipped over the blade just in time, taking advantage of Helmuth's missed swing to deliver a jaw-shattering uppercut, forcing Helm off his hind legs and on his back. Dash attempted to gore 'Twilight' by flying into it with full force, knife out at the ready, but 'Twilight' simply grabbed Dash's hoof as she sidestepped and forced her flight path directly into the ground (which she hit very hard), flipping her around, and elbow dropping her right in the stomach, causing Dash to dry heave from the pain and trauma. Helmuth landed a good buck to her chest before he tended to Dash, just as Luna attempted to follow up, twirling her sword and swinging it right into 'Twilight's' side, only to be blocked by a violet barrier which was called up just in time. Luna continued to parry with the false Twilight before she caught Luna's sword in a trap-shunt with a barrier she produced on her foreleg. Manipulating Luna's sword to the right, 'Twilight' back-hoofed Luna's face, sending her flying backwards and splitting her lip open, only to continue the offensive by firing several magic projectiles, which were blocked by barriers that Helmuth called up. The three backed up and regrouped to assess the situation. The Mind-ling was apparently able to not only take the form of any individual from a pony's mind, but also, by unknown reasoning, the abilities they possessed. They were all injured; Helmuth having a bruised (and near fractured) jaw with several lacerations, Dash having a black eye and holding her stomach (she was lucky her diaphragm didn't rupture from the force of the elbow drop), and Luna having a split lip which was bleeding profusely, several bruises all over her back, and a few other minor lacerations. 'Twilight' only had a few cuts, sustaining relatively few injuries. It was silently but unanimously agreed that the three of them were getting their asses handed to them and they would die if they continued to fight, but they were all too weak to flee. The false Twilight only laughed maniacally.

"Pitiful. I expected a better fight from Equestria's best," the pseudo-Twilight said in a very venomous tone before giggling horribly, sending shivers down their spines, before continuing to advance on them. As the three were ready to fight to the death, something launched itself from the forest at amazing speed and tackled the aggressor with amazing force, blindsiding the Mind-ling and forcing it to the ground before the other figure clamored off of it. In shock from what just happened, Luna, Helmuth, and Dash all got a look at the new belligerent: A female purple unicorn with a lavender mane which had a pink streak going all the way down her bangs, dark violet eyes, clad in Equestrian Army Uniform, and a cutie mark of a sparkling star. The most prominent feature: A long scar running clear across her cheek, as well as several others adorning her body. She clamored and rolled off of the stunned Mind-ling, striking her personal fighting stance. At this point, the trio thought they were already killed and were seeing things.

"If you want Equestria's Best, you've got it!"

"Twilight?!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed before she went into a coughing fit. Twilight did not respond, transfixed on the Changeling taking her form in front of her. It didn't respond, and only attacked her. Twilight ducked low and delivered a powerful, magic enhanced punch to false Twilight's gut, lifting her off the ground by the sheer force, firing off a powerful magic blast from her hoof, before slamming her back down, knocking the wind out of the Changeling. Twilight began to pace around the struggling body on all four hooves, the Changeling struggling to get up from the sudden evacuation of air from its lungs as well as a decimated diaphragm and internal organs.

"Your presence in West Equestria is only temporary," Twilight said stoically as the false Twilight was struggling on the ground, with fear in her emerald eyes. Twilight then struck her in the face with her hoof, forcing her back down.

"This will be between you, me, and my three friends you almost killed over there: The Element of Magic survives," Twilight said before she charged her horn and fired, finishing off the Changeling. Looking down at her handiwork, she then turned towards her friends and trot up to them calmly. They were still trying to grasp if what they were seeing was not an illusion.

"Twilight Sparkle?" Luna asked, reaching her hoof out.

"Twily?" Dash asked with hope in her eyes.

"Twilight…" Helm said softly, smirking. Twilight stopped in front of them, her stoic facial expression slowly turning into a wide and gargantuan smile, eliciting a smile from her friends. She finally broke the silence:

"It's been a little while…"

* * *

**A/N: Dun dun duuuuuun. Some of you expected this, others didn't. Either way, I hope it didn't ruin the integrity of the story in any way :)**


	5. Twilight Before Dusk

**A/N: Once again, my apologies for the long wait. Between College starting again and hitting writers block for a good few weeks, I figured it was time I actually force myself to write again. Thankfully, it started flowing. Here's a nice little read for you. Twilight's return explained! **

**Please R&R :)**

* * *

Chapter 5: Twilight Before Dusk

The three original ponies of the scouting party stared in bewilderment at the purple figure in front of them, albeit with smiles that would most definitely put Pinkie Pie to shame. It was interesting, in all honesty, because how would one react to a situation such as this? Is there even an appropriate way to react when your greatest friend (and quite possibly, lover) almost literally returns from the dead? This naturally gave way to a very heartfelt, but slightly awkward situation, as neither side really had any idea on how to proceed from this point on. Eventually, however, the ridiculously large grins Twilight was subjected to were enough for her to break the silence due to slight discomfort and fear that the three were going to probe her in inexplicable ways to prove that she was not an illusion.

"So… Is this how you greet your war ravaged friend?" Twilight said with a joking inflection. It figures that Twilight's gentle wit would be all the reassurance needed. The trio immediately rushed Twilight and enveloped her in a bone-crushing, group hug. Tears were definitely not held back, especially on the part of Rainbow Dash. Eventually, Twilight beckoned them off of her since her lungs needed to be satiated with air. Luna spoke up:

"Twilight, how did you-"

"It's a little complicated, but I promise to explain everything when we return to Canterlot, which I presume, is where we would be headed," Twilight interrupted, to which the three ponies nodded in unison. Twilight smirked and nodded back before turning around and retrieving her weapon off of her back: a standard but now outdated EQ-96, what she was first issued. She then used her magic to heal the wounds of her friends as best as she could, earning a kiss from Rainbow Dash.

"Come. There are undoubtedly more Changelings in the area. Let's move before they return here," Twilight said with haste as she started to walk back into the forest where they came from. The three others followed suit and stayed close to her since she was the only one who had ammunition and a fully functional weapon at the time. Traversing through the brush for a couple hours, the four of them were able to successfully evade any patrols and make it out of the forest. Once they reached the border of it, they immediately began to gallop full speed as far away from it as possible. Luna levitated her magic mirror as they were running:

"Colonel Everfree, this is Princess Luna. We have completed our objectives and are ready for extraction. We have another member with us, make sure you send for four," Luna gave orders to an army officer.

"Yes Princess. If I may pry, who might you have randomly picked up, your highness?" the Colonel asked curiously, causing Luna to smirk.

"Oh do not worry, Everfree. You will see soon enough. Patch me through to Celestia, if you would please," Luna asked. The Colonel nodded and Celestia was reached.

"There you are, Luna! I was actually getting worried," Celestia said with a concerned tone.

"Aww, sister, you were actually worried about me?" Luna mock-asked with a baby tone.

"Yeah, worried that if you didn't come back, there'd be no one to raise the moon again and I'd have to do it myself," Celestia retorted with sarcasm, making Luna chuckle a bit.

"Well anyway, we're on our way home, extraction is being sent now. We have a surprise for you as well!" Luna said with a smile, prodding Celestia's curiosity. Before she could ask any further, Luna hung up on her and they continued onward.

"Twilight, you do realize that Celestia is going to probably have a magic meltdown from the state of shock she will be in when she sees you, right?" Helmuth commented. Twilight giggled inwardly at the thought of that actually happening.

"Most likely, but damn it will be amazing to be back, especially when I tell you everything that has happened so far. I know you all are still curious and rightfully so," Twilight added.

"Damn right we are, but that's not the only thing that's going to happen tonight," Rainbow Dash added in with a suggestive tone. Twilight's eyes widened and her face almost turned as red as Big Macintosh. Helmuth and Luna were struggling to hold in their laughter amongst themselves. Eventually, the four met the armored chariot at the extraction point and proceeded to board. When one of the soldiers overseeing the extraction saw Twilight, he had to do a quadruple take, and had no words to muster. Twilight only laughed at this response and hugged the confused soldier before boarding.

The flight back to Canterlot was fairly uneventful, with all of them lacking sleep and dozing off. Twilight comfortably snuggled into Rainbow Dash as she dozed off from whatever travels she took, while Luna absentmindedly laid her head on Helmuth's shoulder. The two mares across from him gave him a knowing grin and a wink, which caused him to redden and roll his eyes in response. He didn't mind, of course. By reflex he slid his foreleg around her neck… in a most friendly manner indeed.

Celestia was personally overseeing the return of the chariot. Her interest was prodded greatly as to whom they had managed to "pick up" on the way. Nevertheless, if Luna of all ponies brought someone along unexpectedly, they would have to be somewhat useful in their own right. Luna, however, was just waiting to see her older sister's reaction to this miracle event. The chariot touched down and the doors opened, with Helmuth leading Luna out first. Celestia greeted the both of them warmly and would speak with them about the mission findings later. Turning her attention back towards the chariot, she smiled again as she saw Rainbow Dash exit… and then a very familiar unicorn immediately after her. Celestia's blood drained from her face, her eyes went wide, and her jaw dropped. All the guards around the area also stopped to gaze at the spectacle. Twilight was merely giving her genuine smile towards the princess as she trot up to her. Something was odd though, the Solar Princess was not moving. Her expression was fixed upon where she first saw Twilight.

"Umm… Princess?" Twilight asked. Nothing. No change in expression. She tapped her with her hoof… nothing. The others were looking at her, very concerned now.

"I… think she's… gone into shock!" Luna proclaimed.

"Well, this is most… unexpected," Helmuth added in, cocking his head and wondering exactly how to proceed from here.

"Let's bring her to the throne room, I have an idea," Twilight said. Everypony nodded and they proceeded to the throne room, Celestia being carried in her frozen state on Luna's and Helmuth's back.

"Tia needs to take off a few pounds…" Luna muttered under her breath. Twilight heard this and couldn't help but giggle uncontrollably.

"I'm sure she'd appreciate your humble advice, Luna," Helmuth responded in turn. Eventually they set her down in front of the royal thrones and awaited Twilight's next move. She materialized a bucket of water and heaved it at the princess, dousing her in ice cold goodness. The freezing water immediately brought Celestia out of her trance and as if picking up where she left off, lunged at Twilight and embraced her in the tightest hug in Equestrian history. Twilight soon returned the embrace even though both of them were now soaked from the water treatment. Separating after several minutes of the embrace, Celestia finally faced her student with tears of joy in her eyes.

"Twilight… How ever did you… survive?" Celestia asked.

"I'll tell in due time. First though, I'd like if the rest of our friends were notified of my presence," Twilight responded, to which everypony nodded and proceeded to contact the rest of the mane six, informing them that Twilight was indeed alive. When they were teleported to the throne room, it goes without saying that there was a very emotional reunion.

"Ah just don't understand how you were able tah survive such a horrific explosion!" Applejack pondered.

"And… o-oh my. Your scars… sweet Celestia your scars!" Fluttershy nearly broke down for a third time that night by seeing Twilight's scar-ridden body

"Fear not, everypony. Gather 'round, and I'll tell you everything," Twilight said as she beckoned everypony around her, Celestia giving her the throne to sit on.

"Alright. Celestia remembers very well my supposed last moments. Well, apparently when the blast hit, at that very instant, my magic just went… rogue,"

"Rogue?" Luna asked.

"In a sense, yes. You see, I knew I was going to die. Anypony would have to be daft not to accept it at that point given the circumstances. Well, apparently my body and the physical embodiment of magic that it possesses did not accept those terms. Essentially, my magic completely acted autonomously and in a self-preservation act, encased me in a pure magic barrier, shielding me from the blast and the aftermath of it," Twilight explained.

"As experienced as you and anypony might be in the field of magic, I am most certain that any barrier casted on such short notice, let alone any barrier, would stand up against an explosion at its epicenter," Celestia commented.

"Indeed, but what I later found out was that the magic drew from my own life force," Twilight answered, eliciting a small gasp from the unicorns in the room.

"So it drew from your own life force… that explains the extreme power necessary to shield you," Helmuth commented.

"Quite, and in so doing, it put me in a deep comatose state until my magic could heal me enough autonomously in order to regain consciousness."

"You were under the rubble for a whole two weeks?" Rarity asked, completely shocked.

"No, Rarity. I was under there for a few days as the gryphons were clearing out the damage. I was eventually found by some soldiers who were helping with any rescue and recovery efforts. They took me into Carpathia Military Infirmiry where they incubated and suspended me in heavy water to amplify my healing trance and speed up my recovery," Twilight explained.

"The gryphons have that technology? They don't even use magic," Rainbow Dash added in.

"Yeah, but they would take in wounded unicorns as prisoners of war or in good will to heal them up. As ruthless as the gryphon military was, they weren't completely heartless. The transition to the New Gryphon Republic was almost instantaneous with Kaiser Nightwings capture, but in the end it seemed that war was merely war. They had no grievances against us personally, but were merely following orders. They could have easily left me or killed me. They took me in instead and gave me medical care. Granted, it's not as sterling as magically amplified medical care, hence the scarring," Twilight said as she motioned toward the scars all over her body. She then continued to speak.

* * *

_Twilight awoke with a start to find herself submerged in water, a breathing apparatus in place over her muzzle. She was suspended in heavy water in a cylindrical incubation tube._

"Am I dead?"_ she thought to herself. Surely she had to be. Nopony could survive that… not even her. However, as her eyes focused she could clearly see she was in an infirmary. Upon gazing at her surroundings, she found a lone gryphon sitting in a chair overlooking her tank. She was the only one there to her knowledge. He was a soldier, that much she could see with his helmet, New Gryphon Republic uniform, and rifle leaning on his chair. He looked young, almost as if barely starting a career in the armed forces. Her suspicions were confirmed when she saw the insignia of a gryphon Private on the sleeve of his uniform. Apparently her staring didn't go unnoticed as the young soldier casually cast his eyes over his book and saw her purple eyes staring right back at him. He closed his book and set it aside, standing up and strapping his weapon to his back as he casually walked on all fours to her tank. _

"_Good Morning, Miss Sparkle," the soldier said politely and in a very soft tone, much unlike a gryphon soldier. Twilight attempted to respond but quickly remembered that she was in water and did not have the ability to. She tried to respond by casting her voice via magic, but only to be met with an excruciatingly sharp pain in her horn and head, gasping at best. _

"_Woah there, take it easy!" The gryphon rushed over and softly instructed._

"_You've been in a healing trance for about eight days. You're probably feeling very weak, but not necessarily tired. Don't attempt to use magic either. So much of it has been used to get you conscious again; it needs to regenerate on its own right now. By the way, I'm Private Horst Yunker, 6__th__ Rifles Regiment, New Gryphon Republican Army. I've been assigned to watch over you and report your activity to my superiors. To be honest, I'll take it over guard duty any day," the soldier introduced himself. Twilight took in all the information and was able to muster a weak but noticeable smile. _

"_Do you feel up to being taken out of submersion?" the soldier asked with genuine concern. Twilight looked over herself and considered how she actually felt. She nodded in response. _

"_Very well then, stand by for a bit," Yunker said as he keyed in some commands on the submersion console, starting the drainage of water. Twilight was eventually able to be set down on her hind hooves, but she only then realized how weak she was. She almost stumbled out of the now open tube before Yunker helped balance her, taking off her breathing apparatus which made her cough some water out of her lungs. He then helped her to the bed in the infirmary room and dried her off. She was able to turn to him and muster another smile. _

"_Thank you," she said weakly, her voice still hoarse. The young soldier only nodded and smirked in response as he finished drying her off. He then helped her into the bed where she got herself comfortable. _

"_Are you hungry, Miss Sparkle? Thirsty?" Yunker asked. Twilight didn't show it due to her weakness, but was floored at the young soldier's kindness. _

"_I could eat and drink… thank you very much. Please, call me Twilight," she managed to respond softly, her voice slowly returning to her. Yunker nodded and exited the room briefly, returning a few minutes later with a freshly made daisy sandwich with some hay fries and apple juice. Twilight didn't know how starving she actually was until he put the tray on her lap. She began eating immediately and finished within two minutes. The soldier chuckled as he sat on the chair next to the bed, occupying himself with his book. _

"_Thank you, you didn't have to do all of this," Twilight admitted, still floored by his kindness. She could have sworn that he freshly prepared her food. _

"_Do what? Pull you out from that wreckage?" Yunker asked with a sarcastic but playful tone. _

"_You rescued me?" _

"_I was part of the search and rescue team when I found you under the rubble of the command room. I wasn't going to leave you to die, and contrary to popular belief, gryphons don't kill defenseless adversaries… though technically you weren't an adversary at the time. The war was over. And even so, I would never do such a thing," he explained. _

"_So you did pull me out of there," Twilight confirmed, to which he nodded. _

"_Indeed, you looked in critical condition so I got authorization to have you taken here, Carpathia Military Infirmary, for specialized treatment since you are a unicorn. That's when we found out you were comatose from your healing trance. Since I rescued you, my commanding officer assigned me to watch over you, which I had no complaints. I intended to come see you regardless to make sure you healed up well," Yunker admitted. Twilight seriously wondered if this was the same race and nation that started a war with Equestria. _

"_Well, I'm at loss for words at your actions and your treatment of me, but… thank you," Twilight said. _

"_My pleasure, Twilight. Now..." he began as he rose and secured his helmet and rifle to his back, "I'm going to report to my commanding officer of your status. I'll return in about half an hour with some more food and a doctor to check up on your healing progress. Remember, no magic; that will heal in the next few days," Yunker stated with a smile as he exited the room. Twilight watched him go, still once again dumbfounded by the sheer kindness this one gryphon soldier showed her. Upon examining herself, she had scars and other lacerations that had been recently healed either by hand, or her own healing trance. Gazing in a mirror that was across from her bed, she saw that she did have a few scars on her face as well. All in all, she was healthy and most importantly, alive. Twilight had to get back to Equestria soon though and let everypony know that she was okay. The problem was that her magic was still regenerating and she was a couple days from being able to be fit enough to travel by hoof. Nevertheless, she would return, that much was certain._

* * *

"So, I healed up over the next two days, remarkably well as I was able to help speed up the process a bit as my magic returned slowly. Upon speaking with the commanding officer of the base, I learned more details of how I was found and placed under Private Yunker's watch. Due to my military status, I was also informed about the Changeling threat which you, Celestia and Luna, shared with the New Gryphon Republic's military. When I healed physically, I said goodbye to Private Yunker and thanked him profusely for everything he did for me. He saw me off and I traveled by hoof to the gryphon/Equestrian border by the first night. By morning, my magic had regenerated enough to send out magical pulses to ponies of interest, namely all of you. If you had been getting random bouts of pain randomly, that was my bad," Twilight explained and ended with a sheepish grin.

"So THAT'S what that was! Damn those were painful!" Luna exclaimed.

"Indeed. I couldn't teleport because my magic hadn't quite returned fully at that point. But when I saw that Luna, Helmuth, and Dash were in the Far West, I knew something wasn't right, especially since that's where the Changeling threat was originating. And I couldn't very well come out and show myself, as I'd be swamped immediately and probably taken into royal and/or military custody as per regulation. So, I snuck around and raided a nearby Equestrian Supply depot and took a uniform and a weapon. After trekking a bit further, my ability to teleport was restored, so I was able to send out another pulse, determining your approximate location, and teleport around there. That's when I found you fighting that Changeling that took my form. It seemed that I intervened just in time," Twilight added.

"Indeed. We didn't expect the damn thing to also possess your full combat ability. Took us completely by surprise!" Helmuth spoke. At that time, a guard came in and whispered something in Celestia's ear, handing her a note at the same time before being dismissed. She began to read as conversation went on.

"Kinda embarrassing if you think about it. A Militarily-trained Princess, a HOOF, and an Equestrian Special Forces soldier all got their asses handed to them by a Mind-ling. I think this calls for better training," Rainbow Dash added, getting laughs out of everypony, but groans from Luna and Helmuth at the same time because they knew that that was exactly what was going to happen. Heightened training… oh joy.

"Tia, is everything alright?" Luna asked, now aware of her sister's state of concern and despair. Celestia was still reading the note… eyes scanning the text very seriously.

"Celestia…?" Luna asked again. All eyes were now on the Solar Princess. Finally, she put the note down and spoke.

"Las Pegasus Military Overwatch Brigade has just been wiped out…" Celestia said in a serious but somber tone… clenching her eyes shut and pursing her lips in a straight line.

"There were nearly two thousand soldiers there stationed right next to Las Pegasus!" Luna nearly shouted.

"They're gone… save for one survivor." Celestia replied in the same state of mind. Luna sighed as she began thinking.

"I think it's time to re-activate HOOF"

* * *

**A/N: Hopefully the time didn't diminish the quality! Once again, R&R, as all comments and criticism are greatly appreciated :D**


	6. Simultaneous Setup

**Enjoy! **

**R&R if you would be so inclined :)**

* * *

Chapter 6: Simultaneous Setup

**Location: Las Pegasus Military Outpost**

**Time: 2:00 am, Two hours prior to Twilight's arrival in Canterlot**

"Ugh. Another day in paradise, " the grey coated earth pony soldier stated with a bored drawl. Corporal Alloy Windfire was one who was easily bored. He had joined the Equestrian Army in order to get out of his monotonous life and seek excitement and discipline for his character. The war ended a day out of basic training and as such, he was stuck on a military base that had over watch on the city of Las Pegasus, about forty miles from the gryphon/Equestrian border.

Monotony found its way back into Windfire's life with muscle crushing drills and nighttime guard duty near the Far West's forest. He was part of a small fire-team under the command of Lieutenant Wintergreen, who in turn reported directly to Colonel Everfree. Things were not so bad though. He had found his family away from home with his small squad of four ponies. Lieutenant Wintergreen, a dark green pegasus with metallic green mane and tail was an overly brash but competent leader, who would make split second decisions during simulations with his squad that had the potential to either grasp victory in the blink of an eye, or cause catastrophe all the same. His intuition as a career soldier pulled through, however, and his questionably brave but brilliant actions got his name put up for promotion for the third time this month. He rejected all of them as that would require him to lead larger amounts of troops, effectively leaving his new family behind, something he was not inclined to do.

The navy blue unicorn was Private Blaues Mond, or Blue Moon, as he preferred to be called. Moon was a very broad unicorn and one of the best hoof-to-hoof fighters in the entire outpost, able to take on three opponents on a bad day. He specialized in heavy ordinance and was assigned to the squad as an anti-armor, light artillery, and other heavy weapons specialist. He specialized, naturally, in high area damage destruction magic, which came in handy when grossly outnumbered. He was silent and usually spoke only when spoken to, but he knew that he was accepted as family in his squad, and he made sure that the others knew that he cared for them just as much.

Nopony knew what the young white earth pony's full name was, but she referred to herself, along with those on the base, as "Radiance." Corporal Radiance was a very pretty and very slim, even by female earth pony standards; an underestimation on other soldier's parts that came with a price. She was much stronger than she looked and rivaled Blue Moon in combat capability. She was very graceful in her movements and combat style, and wielded a very high powered bolt action rifle. A great knack for detail and an unrivaled analytical mind, her position as a sharpshooter was a match made in hell for potential adversaries. She and Windfire had been stealing questionable glances at each other lately, and it was no secret around the base that the two would end up together. It was just a matter of who had enough balls to do something about it. Her squad meant everything to her, and it was inferred that she was an orphan to the war. She refused to talk about her past, and the others felt it was best to be left that way, but always willing to talk if she needed somepony.

Then, there was Windfire, the average earth pony soldier of the Equestrian army and the blade hoof of the diarchy. He could wield an assault rifle much better than most soldiers in terms of accuracy and control, but that was about it.

"How you holding up, Windfire?" Wintergreen asked him, checking up on his squadmate.

"Doing alright sir, just bored out of my mind. Even patrol duty sounds good right about now," he replied sarcastically, looking out towards the expansive forest that lay about eleven miles in the distance. Wintergreen laughed at this comment and looked out towards the same scenery, patting Windfire's back.

"I know what you mean. We'll get reassigned soon anyways. Our tour in Las Pegasus is coming to a close next week," the Lieutenant explained, earning a slight smile from Windfire. The two looked behind them to see Blue Moon and Radiance sparring with each other. It was interesting to see two forms of hoof-to-hoof combat go up against one another: One of pure strength and constitution, the other of finesse and manipulation. It provided ample entertainment when they had mock fights. The two got off the large guard wall and joined the other two on the ground when their fight ended, Windfire giving a sweet greeting to Radiance and Wintergreen shaking hooves with Blue moon. As they relaxed amongst each other, Colonel Everfree, commanding officer of the base, showed up.

"Look alive, fillies and gentlecolts. Princess Luna has completed her mission and I sent our armored chariots for her extraction to Canterlot, so we're out of any heavy vehicle support for a few hours. Be sure to stay alert," Everfree announced.

"It's not like anything is going to happen anyw-" the random soldier was interrupted by a large series of explosions towards the front end of the base. Everypony dropped down and assessed their surroundings. The base intercom began to sound a loud pulsing siren.

"SECURITY BREACH. SECURITY BREACH. WEST WALL AT SIXTY PERCENT INTEGRITY," the siren continued to repeat as more explosions rained down on all sides outside of the wall.

"Move out, move out!" Wintergreen shouted as he rallied his small squad. The four of them armed their weapons and proceeded to run towards the West wall when one of the massive doors blew in, forcing them to take cover. Peering out, several dozen gryphon soldiers rushed into the base and began firing upon the Equestrian troops.

"Gryphons?! The war is over!" Radiance shouted.

"No matter, return fire!" Wintergreen ordered, causing the squad to fire a hailstorm towards the door. Several other ponies had already been killed by the initial assault, but the gryphons had no cover. They were being thinned out as fast as they entered the base. Blue Moon decided to finish the job and armed a rocket launcher that was always on his back. Firing, the explosive projectile collided with the wall behind the remaining gryphon troops, annihilating them where they stood.

"Good! Push through! We have to get to the top of the wall!" Wintergreen shouted. Windfire was taking all of this action into his head at once, the monotony of his predicament dissipating immediately. He ran after Wintergreen, Blue Moon and Radiance right behind them. The rest of the base's forces were repelling the gryphon incursion and driving them back to the outside.

"Somethings… not right," Windfire said, putting two and two together while running as fast as he can. "These gryphons… have outdated… uniforms and weapons…" he continued, noticing on the bodies that the gryphons were using outdated AGK-87 rifles and some even still had wing cannons. The uniforms themselves were from at least a year or two ago, even before the war. He could have sworn one of the soldiers had bright green eyes.

"We'll deal with that when the time comes, Windfire. Scale the wall, let's go!" Wintergreen ordered. The four ponies climbed the wall and peered over the ledge, noticing at least a thousand gryphon troops advancing on the wall, pouring fire on the base. There were also about a dozen outdated, prototype looking tanks.

"Well isn't this just fuckin' great. No vehicle support, and we get attacked with tanks!" Blue Moon exclaimed in a frustrated manner, setting up a machine gun.

"Complain later, Private! Get on that heavy machine gun and start blasting away!" Radiance shouted, firing her own weapon down and out towards the slowly advancing horde. Blue Moon did just that and started laying waste to anything that came within five hundred yards of the base. The Equestrian forces started to pour out of the base and meet the gryphon troops head on. Although they were making progress, and outnumbering the gryphons two to one, the tanks were completely obliterating their infantry.

"Four advancing on the left!" Radiance shouted, pulling her trigger and sending a bullet straight into the chest of a gryphon soldier.

"Acknowledged!" Windfire shouted next to her as he swept his assault rifle left, making short work of them. There was another problem: The tanks were overrunning the pony soldiers and getting close to the base. The wall could not stand much more shelling.

"Blue Moon, think you can snipe those things with your rockets?" Wintergreen shouted. Blue Moon responded by dropping the heavy machine gun and reloading his rocket launcher.

"It's worth a go!" he said as he focused some magic into helping his aim. Pulling the trigger, the HEAT round flew six hundred yards and penetrated the questionably early model tank with ease, exploding it from the inside and taking any covering infantry with it.

"Just like the simulations," Blue Moon responded with a smirk. As he went to reload, he realized that he had no more ammunition for the rocket launcher. To his horror, the tanks were advancing even closer, routing the infantry who weren't as trained to handle anti-armor. They were being cut down by the dozens, even being run over by the tanks.

"Ammo! I need Ammo!" Blue Moon shouted.

"Where's the ammo!" Wintergreen echoed, everyone frantically searching for the cases of ammunition as the walls were still under shelling. Radiance looked out over cover just in time to see a group of ponies blown apart by a tank shell, forcing her to flinch back into cover. Shortly after searching, Windfire found a munitions case under the hoof of a fallen defender on the wall.

"Right here!" Windfire yelled as he picked out a rocket shell and tossed it to Blue Moon. Right as he reloaded and aimed, everypony heard something that they did not wish to hear:

"WALL INTEGRITY AT FIVE PERCENT"

At that instant, a tank stopped and aimed at their position.

"Get off the wall! Now! Go!" Radiance shouted as they gathered their weapons. Right as they jumped off the tank fired and the wall completely collapsed on itself in a fiery explosion. The four landed hard on the ground and took cover behind crates and other ruble. Eyeing the scene was gut-wrenching, as the wounded and dying were pleading for help and the dead littered the ground like leaves. They were four of only a few dozen soldiers remaining, facing an onslaught of over six hundred gryphon forces.

"Dig in! We can still fight this!" Wintergreen ordered. Nodding, everypony, including a few straggling soldiers who rallied with their squad, took up positions, concealing themselves in whatever cover was available. Moon went up ahead to ambush the remaining tanks with his rockets, leaving the heavy machine gun in the care of Windfire, who set it up and aimed it at the clearing dust and debris of the once west wall.

When the dust cleared, three tanks had emerged out of it, rolling straight forward with troops right behind them. Keeping unseen, Wintergreen gave the signal to attack. He aimed the rocket out from a random point of cover and fired, destroying the right-most tank as well as killing or severely maiming the troops behind it. This grabbed the tanks' attention as the turrets swiveled towards Moon, who was relocating. At this instant, Wintergreen gave the order to fire, causing all remaining pony defenders to open fire on the scattering gryphon troops, cutting them down row by row as they filled out from behind the tank carcass. Wildfire was just holding down the trigger and attempting not to get bruised by the recoil of the heavy weapon he was operating. This caused the tanks to turn their attention yet again to the infantry, their machine guns opening up on them. A couple more ponies fell due to the guns, but were avenged when another rocket erupted, turning the middle tank into molten debris. A quick survey by the Pegasi indicated that the retreating ponies had been able to disable the other tanks, however few they were and at horrendous cost, so the last remaining tank in the base was the only one left in the entire attack force. That tank attempted to retreat out of the base but was once again, flanked by Moon, who obliterated it with his last rocket.

"That does it for the tanks! We need to try and hold off the infantry now!" Wintergreen shouted as the four of them plus probably six other ponies attempted a last ditch defense against the remaining 450 gryphons.

"I'm going to need some support over here!" Radiance shouted as she pulled her trigger again, cycling the bolt.

"Windfire! I'll take over the gun, you go help her out!" Wintergreen ordered. Windfire nodded and ran over to Radiance's cover. Moon had returned just in time to take cover and support Wintergreen.

"What can I do, Rae?" Windfire asked, leaning out of cover.

"Just keep me covered while I take sniper shots at heavy infantry and officers!" Radiance answered. Windfire did just that and managed to keep the gryphon troops' fire on him rather than her. The two had always worked together nicely during the simulations, and all that practice paid off.

"Be careful, Windfire! There's a gryphon sniper out there sneaking around, let me take care of him. Get into cover when I say so, okay?" Radiance informed.

"You got it!" Windfire replied as he shoved another clip into his rifle and began firing again. After a couple more minutes of the firefight and losing three more defenders, Radiance spoke up with haste.

"Sniper has surfaced! Get into cover!" Radiance ordered. Windfire merely did as he was told and waited, heart racing and panting. Looking over at Wintergreen and Moon, they were fairing alright. Not great but good enough. That certainly went for all of them though. There was a slim chance they would make it out of this. Looking back up, he saw Radiance carefully aiming.

"Just… a little… closer…"

CRACK!

Radiance's rifle went off and the bullet made an audible "clang!" against the enemy soldier's helmet, effectively ending his life.

"He's down!" Radiance yelled as she cycled the bolt before aiming down again. "From the looks of it, there aren't any more sni-"

CRACK!

"RADIANCE!" Moon shouted.

Radiance's head lightly flicked backward and her body went numb. Out of instinct and time slowing Windfire reached out and her body fell back lightly into his forelegs. There was a clean hole through her eye, with her other one closed as well as her mouth. She died instantly. Windfire's eyes were wide and he was panting even harder, his body not knowing how to register what he just saw. He merely laid her body down softly and delicately behind the cover, leaning her up against it, rifle next to her. All he was hearing was muffled sounds of the battle raging around him. Looking up, he saw another one of the defending ponies get shot up.

"…ire!"

Muffled screaming?

"…fire!"

Fire? Return fire?

"WINDFIRE!"

Calling his name!

"Windfire! She's gone! Get your ass over here!" Wintergreen was shouting, noticeably holding back sadness and fuming with rage. Windfire nodded and ran as fast as he could to some adjacent cover next to his comrades. Surveying the scene, they were they only ones left, with gryphons still pouring in. To make matters worse, ammunition was at the first stages of scarcity.

"Here's the last case of ammo! Use it wisely!" Moon shouted as he slammed a massive munitions case on the ground. They reloaded quickly and began to return fire, switching cover and spreading out, but not far enough where they couldn't hear each other. The gryphon soldiers were numerous, but that only created more targets for the three ponies.

"I got six more coming in from the left! Six more coming in from –OOOAAH!" Moon received a trail of bullets up the side of his abdomen and chest, collapsing.

"MOON !" Wintergreen shouted as he looked over at his fallen friend. His body was shivering violently before he relaxed, and no more movement was seen. Wintergreen turned to face Windfire behind cover.

"Windfire! If you can make it out of here alive you damn well make sure you do, Corporal! It's been an honor serving with you! You were the younger brother I never had!" Wintergreen shouted under the deafening gunfire.

"Don't say that Lieutenant!" Windfire yelled back. At that moment another explosion rocked them from their cover, with more gunfire erupting.

"Windfire! You have to -AAAAH!" Wintergreen took two rounds to the torso and one to the neck as he fired off his gun, falling to the earth on his side. Instinct took over and Windfire attempted to rush to the side of his fallen superior.

"Wintergree-!" Upon dashing out of cover, Windfire's hearing died out, leaving only a subtle ringing sound as he felt a horrifically sharp pain enter his upper chest, as well as air evacuating his lungs. He hit the ground hard on his chest, holding as still as possible, and a small pool of blood beginning to form out of his wound. He struggled to breathe as the gryphon troops continued to their position.

"All ponies have been slaughtered. Search the base for any valuable information and head back to the forest with haste," one of the troops barked. Windifre's vision clouded, but he was definitely sure now that the soldiers had bright green eyes. They were Changelings in gryphon form. No mistake of it. The soldiers continued their search for intelligence, kicking over a few of the deceased pony soldiers in the process to check them at random. After about half an hour, they all moved out back into the wilderness. Windfire did his best to stay awake, but even though is wound wasn't potentially life threatening in itself, without medical care, he would surely bleed out; very slowly, but surely. After about an hour of lying there, he still had no strength to attempt to stand up, and his hope for rescue was next to none… that was, until he heard a bunch of voices calling out.

"What the hell happened here!?"

"Search the area! Spread out the troops and search for survivors!"

"It can't be! How is this possible!?"

There was not any other military installation within fifty miles. Nevertheless, from their tones, Windfire knew they were friendly. Somepony most likely sent a distress signal out during the initial attack. With what strength he could muster, he let out a loud, blood curdling scream of agony. It certainly did the trick.

"Over there! Go!"

A bunch of rushed steps were heard and Windfire soon felt himself in friendly hooves… wait… hands?

"You're gonna be okay! Stay with me!"

"Iyach brecht indegräts blüt, yah!" (_I need emergency blood, Now!)_, one of the apparent soldiers spoke in a very familiar language, but Windfire couldn't place what it was at the moment. He raised his head with new found confidence and forcing strength into his head:

"Changelings… as gryphons… Changelings…" was all Windfire could muster before he was forced to lay his head down again.

"We know. We're going to inform your princesses. You're going to be alright now, pony. You're safe now. Rest… we've got you," another voice stated with gentility, albeit in a very thick accent.

That was all the reassurance Windfire needed as he felt his wound being dressed and treated. Sensing his security with about six soldiers around him, tending to him, he let rest take him over as he slipped into unconsciousness.


	7. The Bond

**A/N: Alrighty, here's another update. Smaller, but nevertheless it's an important chapter because it introduces something which will play a crucial role in the future of our heroes. Hopefully I pulled the important stuff off right.**

**You'll let me know, I suppose. Review to your heart's content :)**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 7: The Bond

The meeting in the throne room had ended with nothing more than a unanimous agreement to get some sleep, as it was about four-thirty in the morning. The details of what to make of the Las Pegasus assault would be decided in the later part of the day, and without testimony from the surviving soldier, there was little to go on. Luna had gotten enough sleep and was more nocturnal to begin with, so she decided to go on some "patrol duty" around the Castle and Canterlot. Helmuth opted to join her, being fairly rested as well. Luna, of course, did not mind his company at all, but rather embraced it. The two were redressed in a standard Equestrian camo uniform, Luna donning her beret with her mane tied up a bit, and Helm without anything on his head. They enjoyed the silence of the night as they relaxingly walked on all fours through the random streets of Canterlot. Nopony else was around, on account of them most likely being asleep, so they had the ability to think and talk amongst the two of them. Idle chat had been comfortable, and no awkward moments of silence were to be had. Another beauty of their friendship was that awkwardness didn't exist between the two of them. Luna and Helm were quite comfortable in silence, merely relishing in each other's presence.

"What do you make of everything so far, Helm?" Luna asked, breaking the slight lull in conversation.

"It's hard to say. Part of me is happy that I can have a purpose again, and the other part of me is furious yet apprehensive that we are being thrust back into a conflict," he replied in a fairly stoic but gentle demeanor. Luna gazed upon him as he spoke, but found she was staring a bit too long. She nodded quickly in agreement.

"Yes… that's most understandable. History has a way of repeating itself, does it not?" she asked as they continued along the stone road.

"Like Echoes from the past," Helmuth added in with a sigh at the end. He gazed upon Luna who was walking slightly behind. Something about her captivated him, and he didn't exactly know what. Yes, she was unquestionably gorgeous. Any colt could see that, but yet… something else added to the mix made her so desirable. He attempted to force these thoughts out of his mind, as he felt it was dangerous and quite disrespectful to have thoughts of the Lunar Princess akin to these. As time went on, he found it harder and harder to deny what he felt. Luna returned his gaze with a smile, causing him to turn back around in attempt to conceal his blush. Luna eventually caught up to him and playfully nudged him in his side, their rifles strung on their backs clicking together.

"Fancy a sit in the park?" Luna asked with another smile on her face.

"Might as well," Helmuth replied with a miniscule sense of hesitance. He picked up his pace and followed her by her side towards the park which was lifeless under her night. They found a bench which was overlooking a pond, shimmering ever so delicately in the moonlight with ever gentle breeze's touch. Setting their weapons on the ground, they made themselves comfortable on the bench, Luna instinctively snuggling closer to her companion; both of them gazing towards the nightscape.

"Not the most impressive night considering the circumstances but it gets the job done," Luna spoke up, analyzing the stars and their relation to one another.

"All your nights are beautiful in their own right, Princess," Helm responded without incident. Luna inwardly blushed at the compliment, but playfully punched him on his shoulder.

"What did I tell you about calling me Princess?" Luna asked softly, feigning irritation and getting a smirk out of Helm.

"Sorry, old habits die hard, I suppose," he answered with an uneasy laugh. Luna giggled softly and leaned on his shoulder.

"Just know that you only get away with it because you're cute," Luna said without actually thinking about her next words. _"Oh Celestia, I just said that out loud, didn't I?"_

Luna fearfully awaited a rejection of some sort from her inadvertent uttering of her thoughts, but none came. She only felt Helmuth's gaze turn towards her. Helm, on the other hand, had absolutely no idea how to respond to this. His 'forbidden' crush essentially admitting an attraction? Best thing so far, but how to respond. He had to do this right, and he only had one shot.

"Speak for thyself, my Radiant Princess of the Night," he responded so coolly. Nailed it. Luna's eyes only twinkled at his words.

"Do you really mean that, Helm?" she asked uneasily… so unsure of herself and subconsciously moving closer to him.

"Luna, I foresee this conversation ending in two possible ways. Either way, you'll still be My Princess," he spoke with great finesse, even shocked at himself for the valor he put forth. Luna picked up immediately on what he meant with the last two words and she could only muster a great, genuine smile as a result. She leaned in and nuzzled his face with great affection, to which he returned in earnest. In another bold and daring move, he moved his hoof up and knocked off her beret, letting her mane down and flow freely. He then ran his hoof lovingly in her mane, admiring its silk-like texture and overall magic aura, Luna merely closing her eyes with a blush and smile on her face which she couldn't hide if she wanted to. Taking his hoof in hers, she opened her eyes once again, revealing to Helm her brilliant and shimmering teal blue eyes which were further amplified by the reflected moonlight on the horizon. They locked their gazes and soft smiles with each other for a good minute before Luna felt herself being overtaken by an emotion she had long forgotten. She leaned up, simultaneously closing her eyes, pressing her lips onto his ever so delicately as if testing the waters. Helmuth lost himself in the mere few-second act of affection, but readily returned it without any measure of hesitation, telling her that it was more than okay. Not one to let such an action go unreciprocated, he leaned in further, drawing both of them together in another display of their great and unsaid affection for each other. He slid his hoof up to her face to cup it in a gentle embrace as they continued to kiss deeply under Luna's own early morning moonlight. As their unparalleled affection for each other became more profound by the minute, something unexpected happened. Their horns touched, and with it, brought a large, colorful magical pulse that sent waves throughout both their bodies. They were physically startled as their eyes widened immediately at the intense artificial yet natural fuzzy feeling radiating throughout their bodies, yet their lips remained sealed together. Bringing an unparalleled feeling of elation and pleasure, they silently agreed to continue with their previous task, continuing to deeply, yet chastely make out in the moonlit park. After a few minutes, the foreign feeling faded away into the night air, and they were left with only themselves once more. As the feeling subsided, they separated from each other in order to catch their breaths.

"What… what was that?" Helmuth asked softly. Luna herself was in a state of disbelief.

"I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't just experienced it firsthand… we just completed a magical bond,"

"A Bond?"

"Yes. When two magically proficient unicorns, alicorns, or a combination of the two come together in an act of unparalleled feeling and emotion and their horns touch, a small piece of each other's life force is transferred to the other," Luna explained… still panting slightly. This new information greatly intrigued Helm.

"That's… quite interesting. What comes of it?"

"For all intents and purposes, we are magically linked. If I, for example, were to cast a spell on myself, you would gain the benefit as well if I so chose. It makes so I don't physically have to cast something on you. It works in reverse as well," Luna answered.

"That's amazing!" Helmuth exclaimed, causing Luna to giggle.

"It is, isn't it? Also, with a piece of each other's life force in the other, we'll be able to read each other's movements and transfer thoughts to one another instantaneously, whenever we choose. Something which could come in very handy in non-private situations and combat," Luna added.

"You never cease to amaze me with your knowledge," he added, nuzzling her again.

"Hey, I try," Luna said timidly with a hint of sarcasm, blushing at his display of affection. Helmuth then got himself off of the bench.

"Come, we should be getting back to the castle. I feel the noon-time will bear news on our next course of action. We should try to sleep just a little bit," he said, extending his hoof to her.

"Hm. I guess you're right. Let's be off then," she said with a smile, taking his hoof in hers as she got off of the bench. The two then strode back off to the castle with a new echelon of relationship in tow with them, not to mention a special bond which would undoubtedly have profound effects on their future courses of action. What those actions would be, they could not be certain. A bond of such strength would undoubtedly be of utmost use in the fight against the threat they face now, but to what extent and its usefulness plays remained to be seen. In either case, they had each other and that's all that really mattered at this point in time. Uncertain actions and unseen usefulness.

In the end, only time would tell.


	8. Control

**A/N: I'm _very _curious to the general reaction of this chapter. Please let me know what you think! ****Review! **

**Enjoy :D**

* * *

Chapter 8: Control

"Gah…ugh…damnit!" Twilight continued to grunt on the medical bed. She was sitting up on a patient bed in one of the castle's many medical wings. A couple nurses were working a magically enhanced apparatus which was firing a green-colored beam at her exposed abdomen and chest, effectively removing the scarring and restoring her coat to its natural luster and perfection, albeit with some pain due to the high intensity magic required to remove and replace scar tissue. Once they were all taken care of, the nurses looked in closely and took care of any other remaining small scars with their own horns. One of the nurses moved to remove the scar that cut across her cheek before Twilight stopped her.

"No, I want to keep this one," she said with her general tone of voice.

"I want a little reminder of what I survived… in case I ever feel that things are hopeless," she added before the nurse could question why. She only nodded in compliance and with that, the procedure was done. Exiting the wing, Twilight was trotting down one of the castle's many halls, merely thinking about everything that had happened recently. Helmuth's and Luna's new relationship and subsequent magical bond were readily told the day before and to say everypony was overjoyed was an understatement. Celestia was absolutely ecstatic that her younger sister finally found the emotion of love again with somepony she more than approved of, no less. Twilight herself was rather overjoyed to say the least. She had also received word that the surviving soldier of the Las Pegasus assault was being brought to Canterlot and would arrive at the castle early the next day. Until then, other activities were planned to pass the time. When she was done, Twilight was told to meet everypony at the training simulation grounds for a one hour squad firefight session. Using sterling new technology, the simulator would magically conjure "real" adversaries which would behave like they were to be expected. They would speak, fight, and bleed like a normal creature, designed to give troops a close to realistic sense of combat as they could.

As previously stated, Twilight and her new "squad" consisting of Luna, Rainbow Dash, Helmuth, and herself were to be thrown into an environment in a 'firefight' scenario, where they would essentially have to 'survive' for an hour in enemy territory. Live ammunition was to be used on both sides, so the danger was very real. However, there would be no point in having soldiers die in the simulations, so, while they could be struck with real projectiles and as a result, bleed, there were magic stimulators surrounding the environment in question which ensured that nopony would bleed to death as a result. Also, the magical entities were created with the 'programming' to not aim for the head or chest. If a wound happened to become fatal, the magic barriers would pick up on this and the session would end immediately. So far, there have been no reports of any casualties. Plenty of injuries and wounded soldiers, but nothing that couldn't be fixed with magically amplified healing.

Soon, Twilight arrived outside where there stood a vast range of landscape and countryside, being greeted by the others:

"Hey Twilight! You made it just in time!" Rainbow Dash waved her down, pecking her on the lips which always caused Twilight to blush. Not a large public display of affection, at least relative to Luna and Helmuth, who, over their shoulders, were in the midst of a make-out session.

"Alright lovebirds, cut it out!" Celestia yelled out with a hint of jesting. She was to observe how they all fought in this simulation for the first time together.

"Suit up and arm up. You've got five minutes! Go!" Celestia spoke, earning a nod from the others. There was a grand variety of weapons in the preparation area. Luna, Helm, and Dash armed their respective weapons from last mission, favoring the results. Twilight equipped a small submachine gun, not being in the mood for large firepower today. Equipping standard uniforms, they were ready for final briefing.

"Alright. Standard rules are: Firefight. You four against endless infantry. One hour. All weapons and abilities are fair game. Begin!" Celestia bellowed out. They all nodded and entered the arena. At that instant, the other surroundings disappeared and they were left in a semi-field/forest setting. A large crate appeared randomly where they started, housing all the ammunition they would need. Loading their weapons, another omnipotent voice announced out:

"FIREFIGHT. TIME: ONE HOUR. BEGIN MISSION"

"We're sitting ducks out here, get to the forest!" Twilight shouted, to which the four of them ran to the cover of the trees. Looking out back towards the field, movement could be seen.

"I see movement coming from the field!" Helm shouted out.

"Twenty-five infantry heading this way. Gryphon and Pony mix," Rainbow Dash confirmed.

"You got it. Take defensive positions. Stand-by to fire," Luna commanded. They all aimed their weapons down-range at the casually advancing infantry. As soon as their chatter could be heard a hundred yards away, Luna gave the signal to open fire. Two gryphons and a pony instantly dropped. The remaining troops returned fire with startling accuracy, Luna having to duck behind a tree to avoid getting shot.

"I got two advancing on the right!" Twilight shouted as she fired three bursts down range.

"I'm on it, Twi!" Helm replied, aiming his long-rifle and pulling the trigger, sending a bullet through the advancing pony's shoulder. Rainbow Dash finished the other one off with her DMR.

"They're down!" Dash echoed as she reloaded. More troops were filling in to replace the fallen.

"We've got more infantry coming from the field!" Luna shouted as she held the trigger down on her weapon for a good few seconds before ducking behind cover again.

"AH!" Dash shouted as a bullet clipped the tree she was taking cover behind, tree bark hitting her in the face.

"You okay Dash?!" Twilight asked, looking over apprehensively.

"Just some makeshift shrapnel. Back to the fight!" Dash shouted, switching cover and opening up again. Ten minutes had passed and enemy casualties stood at a little over thirty with more infantry well on the way. At that instant Twilight's ear flicked and she heard movement to her right in the forest.

"To our right!" she shouted just in time as a gryphon came down on her with the butt of his rifle. She dodged and countered with a spinning kick, sending the gryphon stumbling, before she charged forward and enveloped herself in a large amount of her magic aura, launching and propelling herself at the soldier like a rifled torpedo, striking him in the chest with full magic force. She took cover again under a hailstorm of bullets.

"I got you covered, Twi!" Dash shouted as she diverted her attention to Twilight's new adversaries advancing through the forest.

"Keep the troops on the field at bay!" Twilight shouted.

"Way ahead of ya!" Helm replied, cycling another round into his rifle. They continued fighting a slowly advancing enemy, casualties now over the seventy figure mark and half an hour into the battle. Three more pony soldiers arrived in the forest and Twilight was ready to counter them. Squeezing her trigger, the first soldier went down after being peppered with over a dozen rounds. Twilight went to reload but as she did, a bullet struck her in the upper hoof.

"GAH! I'm hit!" Twilight yelled out in pain as she knelt down and clutched her profusely bleeding hoof.

"Twilight! Can you handle it?!" Luna yelled back, very concerned.

"Yeah… I can… heal myself. FUCK this hurts! Dash! Keep me covered!" Twilight shouted as she began to heal her wound.

"Already on it!" Dash replied and within a moment's notice, she was behind Twilight's cover, keeping the enemy at bay. Twilight was back in battle (albeit rather sore) after about two and a half minutes of magic "field" healing: removing the bullet, stopping the bleeding, and regenerating the tissue. Things were getting more complicated by the minute. Forty-five minutes had passed and the field was now crawling with advancing infantry. Luna and Helmuth were fighting valiantly and brilliantly, communicating information verbally and mentally at a moment's notice and supplementing each other's strengths while covering their weaknesses. Helmuth conjured a very volatile magic disk and hurled it out onto the field, before having it explode in a teal blue aura, killing several of the advancing troops.

"Luna! Cover me, I'm launching another charge!" Helmuth shouted as he was forming another explosive disk. However, as he went to launch it, a bullet found its way to him and struck him in the soldier, sending the explosive disk in an unintended direction out on the field.

"AAH! I'm hit! I'm down!" Helmuth cried out as he knelt down against the tree, his shoulder bleeding and in excruciating pain. Luna, normally very concerned yet composed, was at a loss for words. Her sights were now set on her love who lay wounded and bleeding as a result of the pseudo-enemy force advancing on their position. Twilight was on him as soon as he called out, attempting to heal his wound. It was a lot tougher as the wound was caused by a higher caliber round and was deeper than her own, on top of being magically drained from other miscellaneous powers she was using. Luna was feeling very odd at this point. She was feeling his pain… almost literally. However, she had other thoughts as well. Her rationale was slowly whittling away. These enemy soldiers… wounded… and could have potentially killed Helmuth. Even though game parameters would prohibit death, her thoughts were not rational at this point. Luna was feeling a rapidly rising emotion that she believed she had long suppressed: infuriation. This did not go unnoticed.

"Luna? What's wrong?" Twilight asked, noticing that, although Luna was still firing down range, she was very twitchy… almost shivering. Her pupils began to behave oddly as well… they elongated vertically. Luna then began hyperventilating. Twilight was now seriously getting concerned.

"Luna…?" Helmuth asked in a tired manner, having lost a small yet decent amount of blood.

There was no response, save for a deeper breathing which sounded of pure hate and fury. Her eyes brightened near white as she began to shiver violently where she stood. Her legs bent slightly as her slender figure became more… muscular and toned. Her muscle mass increased from her legs up, her body being surrounded by her own aura as it emanated from her body, encasing her form. Armor plating materialized and her mouth now bore fangs for teeth. Her dark aura exploded outward into the surroundings as she yelled out in a primal, magically amplified tone that would bring shivers down anypony's spine. The other ponies had to cover their ears as an infuriated Nightmare Moon stood in Luna's place. The magical shockwave stopped the advancing infantry in their tracks. She stood there, breathing very heavily, head hung low. Raising her head, she let out another battle cry as she flew out onto the field. Everypony was at a loss for words.

Nightmare Moon landed hard near the formerly advancing infantry, sending a magic shockwave from the ground, sweeping the frightened enemy troops off their hooves and feet. She drew her sword and began to mercilessly cut down the ponies and gryphons alike with extreme prejudice. Any attempt to fight back was met with a more gruesome death by magical means. Being thrown out of their shock, and Helmuth being healed up, albeit a bit weak, they all rushed out after her.

"Luna!" They all simultaneously called out.

There was, again, no response as she cross-punched another pony with a sickening crack, causing the soldier to spin around before she impaled him through the back with her sword. They ran as fast as they could to catch up with her carnage, arriving as more enemy troops were converging on her. Luna slammed her front hooves down on the chest of a gryphon soldier, ending his life in an agonizingly brutal manner before she let out another will-shattering roar which reached an octave that would terrify anypony.

"STOP THE SESSION!" Twilight called out several times. Eventually, all the carnage ceased, and the other soldiers which would oppose them stopped and lowered their weapons.

"SESSION OVER. TIME: FIFTY-ONE MINUTES, FORTY-TWO SECONDS. CASUALTIES: ONE HUNDRED SEVENTY NINE."

Twilight heard that number. The last bout of carnage with Nightmare Moon claimed almost eighty enemy 'lives' within three minutes. The simulation ended, the carnage and other soldiers disappeared, and they were back where they started. Celestia and a few royal guards were on the scene immediately. Nightmare Moon still stood there, breathing heavily.

"Luna…?" Helmuth asked, cautiously approaching her. Nightmare Moon looked up and caught a glimpse of him. Immediately, her look softened, and she hung her head low. Her magic enveloped her and her muscle mass, as well as her armor began to slowly fade away. All that remained was Luna sitting on her flank, sobbing her eyes out. Helm immediately rushed to her aid, to which she held on to him with an embrace that nearly re-opened his wound.

"I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm so so so sorry I didn't mean it please!" Luna pleaded in a garbled, jumbled mess of words, sobbing into Helmuth's chest. Celestia placed a hoof on her shoulder, Twilight and Dash joining in comforting her.

"It's okay, Luna… It's okay" Helmuth and Celestia cooed. Luna merely shook her head, still sobbing.

"I lost control… I said I never would but I did! My mind couldn't bear seeing you wounded at the hooves and hands of them, even if they were fake! I was so… furious! I'm sorry! Please forgive me! It was our bond that made me fear losing you, and made me lose control! Please forgive me!" Luna continued to sob uncontrollably.

Helmuth knew that their enhanced attachment to each other had a great influence on her outburst and loss of control, forcing her under the influence of her alter-ego. After a few minutes of holding her, Luna finally had calmed down enough to think clearly. They all took the rest of the day off and reconvened around the evening time, allowing Luna to collect her thoughts and calm herself. Relocating to a more comfortable abode, many questions were had, namely, that if she was under the influence of Nightmare Moon, why did she go only after the enemy troops, while she spared two Elements of Harmony and another pony? Luna had explained that Nightmare Moon was a part of her, not a separate entity. Although she purged The Nightmare from her system with the help of the Elements of Harmony, Nightmare Moon still remained, but under her complete control. When she became overly infuriated, it triggered the right balance of magic and emotions to bring about her resurgence.

"Don't worry, Luna, Please. I don't forgive you, because there's _nothing_ to forgive!" Celestia spoke with a loving tone, still reassuring Luna who had her doubts.

"And all it shows me is that you… really care for me," Helmuth pointed out. Luna gave a soft smile and magically levitated Helm towards her, embracing him affectionately.

"Of course I care for you, that is an understatement," Luna said, nuzzling him very lovingly. Everypony stayed for a while before everypony started to filter out for some needed shuteye. Twilight and Rainbow Dash left before Celestia got up.

"Get some sleep, sister. Try not to trouble yourself over this matter," Celestia said, nuzzling her before heading out the door. Luna and Helm stayed together in silence, Luna just taking comfort in his presence. He "tucked her into bed" before he turned to leave, wanting to give her much needed rest after today's undoubtedly traumatizing events for her.

"Helm…" she softly called out with a slight hint of fear in her voice.

"Luna?" He turned over his shoulder.

"Would you… stay with me tonight?" Luna asked very hesitantly. Helm knew that this was a very chaste request, but nevertheless was quite taken aback by it.

"What?" He asked, to make sure he heard correctly.

"I'm sorry… I… I don't want to be alone tonight. Please…?" Luna asked in a tone he never heard from her: pleading. Desperate.

"Of course I will," he replied with a genuine smile of reassurance. He climbed into her bed and she immediately snuggled up to his chest, him wrapping his front legs around her.

"Thank you…" she softly spoke before she almost immediately drifted off to sleep.

Helm didn't get the chance to respond, only smiling sweetly at the sleeping Princess of the Night who lay in his front legs. He couldn't help but feel sorry for his marefriend, realizing that she had to keep near constant control over her anger if she didn't want to take the Nightmare's form. He then resolved to help her whenever she needed it, just like he was now, with her simple request that he stay the night.

"I could definitely get used to this," he softly said to nopony in particular before he lay his head down next to Luna's and fell into a deep and quiet slumber.


	9. Mobilization

**A/N: Apologies for the lack of attention to this story! I had been focusing all my work on "Lighten Up!" But, it's time to be fair to the small crowd that is enjoying the conflict universe. There will be more to come soon. **

**Review and Enjoy :)**

* * *

Chapter 9: Mobilization

"Your Highnesses, the soldier and his escort have arrived, as planned," a Royal Guard said, delivering a message from outside the throne room. Princess Celestia and Luna were sitting on their thrones, flanked by Twilight and Helmuth respectively. Rainbow Dash was off doing other Special Forces necessities for the day.

"Excellent. Have them enter," Celestia responded, earning a nod from the soldier who gave an order. At that instant the front doors to the massive throne room opened. In entered about twelve Gryphon Republican Army soldiers marching in perfect synchronization. In the middle was a pony soldier who was being carried on a rolling medical bed. He appeared to be in stable condition. Once the column reached the center of the room, they all bowed before the princesses.

"Your highnesses," the apparent squad leader said in respect as he removed his cap. Celestia was impressed.

"At ease, soldiers," she responded, to which the column secured their weapons to their backs and began to just stand around. Celestia and Luna then approached the officer to have an open discussion with him about the parameters of the situation; at that moment Twilight saw somepony… or somegryphon familiar.

"Private Yunker!" Twilight shouted, startling everyone there. She galloped and embraced the gryphon soldier with a smile, who returned the gesture enthusiastically, giggling at his reception.

"Miss Sparkle! I didn't expect to see you here," Yunker stated with a grin.

"I could say the same for you! And it's _Twilight_ by the way," she said, hitting him playfully.

"Well, you were wrong in my designation also. It's now Corporal Yunker," he replied, raising his eyebrow with a grin.

"Congratulations!" Twilight responded. The two continued to chat before the Princesses and Helmuth came over.

"I believe it's safe to assume you two know each other," Luna said with a sarcastic grin. Twilight nodded.

"Yup! This was the gryphon responsible for my rescue and overwatch. I owe him my life," Twilight explained, earning a very sharp nod of approval from the two princesses and smiles of appreciation. Yunker had never felt so shy in his life. Celestia's wheels were turning in her head, finally laying eyes on the one who saved her beloved student and essentially brought her back from the brink of death.

"Just doing my duty, your highensses," Yunker replied respectfully. Celestia would have none of it.

"Guard?!" she called out, to which one of the Guards was by her side instantly. She whispered in his ear and he saluted her, galloping off.

"Something wrong, princess?" Helmuth asked. Several seconds later, the Guard returned with a box, which Celestia levitated out of his hooves and dismissed him.

"Yes, something is wrong. What's amiss is that this gryphon soldier does not have a medal for his actions!" she continued. Luna and Helmuth agreed with a nod while Twilight's smile pierced the heavens. The poor gryphon lost his words and thoughts completely, and his comrades were now looking over in interest.

"Corporal Yunker of the Gryphon Republican Army, it is with our sincerest gratitude that we bestow you with the Onyx Shield," Celestia began as she levitated a brilliantly shining, small, onyx black shield. "The highest honor that the diarchy can give to a foreign agent," she finished. Yunker stiffened to attention as Celestia placed the small shield on the chest of his uniform. Celestia then respectfully bowed to him, along with the rest of the ponies in the room. He brought his hand up and saluted them in response, earning applause from his comrades. Now that that was taken care of, it was time for the real order of business. The group went up to the soldier who was sitting up on the bed now.

"Greetings, your highnesses," the pony soldier said, bowing his head.

"There's no need for such formalities. Now, what's your name and designation?" Luna asked in a very soft tone.

"Corporal Alloy Windfire, Princess. 4th Field Army, Las Pegasus Overwatch Division… what's left of it," he replied. Celestia carefully noted this.

"How are you fairing, Windfire?" Celestia asked in her famous motherly tone, instantly putting the soldier at ease.

"Been better, to be honest. My entire base, including my squad, my second family, was wiped out," he said in a somewhat depressed manner.

"We're truly sorry for your loss, Windfire. But your service is most appreciated in this crisis, and I know it's of little consolation, but you've earned these," Celestia levitated a Red Heart medal as well as the medal for Sergeant: one for being wounded in the line of duty and the other as a promotion. Windfire accepted them graciously. Celestia smiled at him before turning to the gryphon officer.

"So, you say that the entire base was wiped out by… changelings taking the form of gryphons?"

"Yes, your majesty. Upon examination, the troops were using rather outdated equipment and uniforms. We have pieced together that these were the same troops that the previous government sent to purge the changelings during the first incursion… before the war," the officer stated. Yes… it made perfect sense! Those thousand troops were never seen again!

"That's troubling… which means that they'll probably have troops from both our nations that could have 'mysteriously disappeared' over the years," Celestia remarked, and everypony agreed.

"What do you suggest the next course of action is, sister?" Luna asked inquisitively. Celestia pondered for a moment.

"You were able to scout the Nightmare Temple. That is obviously of significant importance to the changelings with the sizeable force you made work of there. We don't have all the answers, so that might be the first step," Celestia was thinking out loud. Nopony said anything, allowing Celestia's mind to work. Soon enough, she had formulated a tentative plan of action.

"We need to take Nightmare Temple and the surrounding area. That's the first step and hopefully we can get some answers on how to proceed next," Celestia said in an authoritative tone. One of the higher ranking guards started to jot down notes to help implement and enact the orders when necessary.

"I need an air campaign. I want a no-fly zone established over the East most section of the Far West Forest. We're going to need hooves on the ground. I want a quarter of a field army on standby ASAP," Celestia ordered. With that, a bunch of guards and messengers began running around to appropriate officials around the castle. The gryphon officer stepped up.

"If I may, Princess, on behalf of our leaders, the Gryphon Republic pledges all necessary resources and bodies if called upon. This is our war as well," he stated with resolve.

"Excellent, and thank you. We're going to need allies."

"Princess, who would you decree command our forces?" one of the guards asked.

"Luna, Helmuth. You two have proven that you work flawlessly together. You two will lead a point squad on the ground. Any objections?" Celestia asked.

"None," the both of them said at the same time, smirking at each other.

"Twilight, I'm going to ask you a favor. You're more than welcome to decline, but I only ask you because I know you can perform well in this situation," Celestia said, turning towards her student.

"Celestia?"

"Would you like to command the Field Army?" Twilight's eyes widened. Luna and Helmuth were nodding towards her, urging her. Twilight had no words and was stuttering to formulate a response.

"I know I'm asking a lot of you right now and you're in no way obligated to take this position. But just know that I _know_ you can perform well here and be one of our best leaders. You've proven that several times over," Celestia said with a twinkle in her eyes. Twilight went over the scenarios in her head, but ultimately gulped down her fears and responded.

"Princess, I accept," Twilight said with professionalism. Celestia grinned at her ever faithful student.

"Very well then. We're going to need to fix a few things though," Celestia said.

"Like what?"

"Like this," she replied as she knocked Twilight's beret off and replaced it with an Equestrian Officer's Cap that had a single silver star as the insignia in the middle. Once again, Twilight's eyes widened.

"You'll do well, Brigadier Twilight Sparkle," Celestia said, extremely proud of her pupil. Twilight could only smile back.

"Thank you, Celestia,"

"Now, do you think Rainbow Dash would be interested in leading the air campaign?" Celestia asked.

"Why don't you ask her yourself, Princess," Twilight said as she pointed to the rainbow maned mare trotting through the door.

"Hey everypony, I'm done with SF for the day. What's new?" she asked.

"We're going back and taking Nightmare Temple. We need a no-fly zone. You interested in leading it?" Twilight asked. Rainbow Dash's jaw simply dropped at the proposition. Being able to take to the skies again was just too good of an opportunity to pass up.

"I'd love to lead the air force in a no-fly zone! Thank you thank you thank you!" she said excitedly, bouncing around. But then she stopped, "On ONE condition,"

Everypony was listening.

"I'm not staying behind and leading. I get to go up there as well," Dash said.

"I wouldn't have it any other way, _Major_" Celestia said with a wink. Rainbow Dash only squee'd even louder. Now, all the details were settled and the orders were implemented. Mobilization was in effect.

"So, what now?" Luna asked.

"Now, we all get some rest. We take Nightmare Temple tomorrow. Especially you, Dashie. You're going to be the first ones up there,"

"You can count on me, Princess!" Dash said, saluting. Just then somepony else interrupted.

"The medical officers state that I'll be fit for active duty by tomorrow, meaning my wounds will have healed up nicely. I wish to be folded into the force on the ground, if that is possible. I want to fight again," Windfire spoke up. Celestia mustered a grateful smirk. Luna answered for her:

"You'll be in our squad. We could use somepony like you!" she said with a smile, Helmuth agreeing, to which Windfire nodded.

"Thank you. It's time I avenge my fallen friends,"

All had been settled now. Tomorrow would be the end of idleness and stray attacks. Celestia was tired of conflict, so she would be sure to end this one as quickly and decisively as possible.

It was time to take the real fight to the Changelings.


	10. Tip of the Spear

**A/N: Here's another chapter for you! **

**Enjoy! :)**

* * *

Chapter 10: Tip of the Spear

The sun had barely begun to rise early morning, signaling a new day in Equestria. As per always in the Western region of the nation, it was very overcast come the morning. However, this was not a bad thing by any means; in fact it worked in the favor of the day's planned events. It was about five-thirty in the morning and all was quiet around the skies of Las Pegasus and the massive Far West Forest which lay about ten to twenty miles west of that.

A slight break in the clouds revealed about seventy five pegasi flying over the quiet city, geared up for combat. During the final phases of the war and wars end, the air force received numerous upgrades, including special aerodynamic armor that harbored weapons which could be used for aerial and ground based attacks. Weapons included small to medium caliber guns as well as shells/grenades that could be dropped on ground targets. With more equipment available, the air force was able to be sanctioned off into several groups of pegasi: The lighter, faster and more nimble pegasi were given 'interceptor' roles, usually armed with more guns and ammunition. Average to heavier build pegasi were given a standard fighter or 'strike-fighter' roles, armed with guns as well as other heavy ordinance in order to accommodate both roles if necessary. At the spearhead of the several squadron flight group was none-other than the Interceptor Rainbow Dash. It was a calm flight speed, making sure everything was in order and ultimately, waiting for the signal to commence the operation. She booted up her visor (another upgrade for the air force, standard issue communications) and sounded off.

"This is Major Dash, I've got flight group Kappa in position over Las Pegasus, standing by for further orders, how copy, command?"

"Loud and clear, solid copy. This is Brigadier Sparkle to air command, hold position in the skies until further notice, how copy?" Twilight asked, looking skyward from her Las Pegasus command post and spotting the impressive formation.

"Solid copy. Dash out." Dash replied before taking the group for another pass. Twilight continued with the 'check-list':

"This is Brigadier Sparkle to 91st Corps. Sound off,"

"Colonel Shade to Brigadier Sparkle, in position ten miles out of the forest and standing by to move in,"

"Roger that. All units, operation is a sortie. Major Dash, take control of the skies, over," Twilight ordered, moving several pegasi pieces over a virtual map of the area.

"Copy that, Kappa moving in, Dash out," Rainbow Dash said, and with that, she spoke to her group.

"Alright fillies and gentlecolts, this no-fly zone is a go. I hope any of you who have green eyes wore the mandated contacts, because we're bringing down anything that has green eyes. There's bound to be some resistance, on the ground and in the air. Let's get to it!" Dash ordered.

"Yes Ma'am!" her team shouted before following her lead, diving down over the Forest. She led the group down and just over the canopy in an attempt to draw attention and scout out the path to Nightmare Temple.

"I'm spotting movement on the ground, repeat, movement on the- WOAH!" one of the air troopers shouted before he was almost grazed by a green magic bolt. Soon, more followed, some shots were even bullets.

"Taking fire! Track the source and eliminate any and all resistance! We gotta make this as easy for the troops as we can! Watch the skies as well!" Dash ordered, and with that, her team splintered off into their respective squadrons and proceeded to attack the ground. Soon, however, many gryphon and pony bodies emerged from the canopy to challenge the Equestrian air force that threatened the skies above them.

"We got aerial units! Take them down!" Dash ordered once again, and in no time a large aerial and ground to air battle erupted.

"Brigadier Sparkle, the no-fly zone is in effect and we are dealing with moderate resistance from the ground and air. Feel free to move the troops, how copy?" Dash said hastily, banking right to avoid a few bolts sent her way.

"Solid copy, Major Dash. You heard her, colts! Advance on the Forest!" Twilight gave the order, moving appropriate pieces on her map.

* * *

On the ground, Luna and Helmuth just received the order to move. They were dressed in standard Equestrian Army camo uniforms and helmets with their respective rank insignias.

"This is it!" Luna shouted, securing her helmet and pushing the slide release on her rifle.

"You bet it is," Helmuth replied, doing the same thing. Windfire, who was right next to them, only nodded sternly as he armed his weapon, watching the columns of soldiers accompanied by tanks advancing towards the Forest. The three hitched a ride on a tank as they advanced forward, looking to the skies at the battle that waged above. Luna could see the endless streaks of bullet trails and maneuvers to avoid and flank that were being pulled off simultaneously by several belligerents. The three would notice a pony get hit here, a gryphon get shot down there, and occasionally some ponies would bank low and put on a small show before returning to the fight. As was the situation now, the changeling attempts at resistance were of little match to the Equestrian air force, but Dash had taken a few number of losses.

"Contacts! Foot mobiles coming to light, tanks as well!" A tank commander shouted, pointing towards the forest and seeing changeling, pony, and gryphon troops running out to meet the threat, supported by light tanks. Both groups were advancing in an area that was not dense forest, but was not an open field either. There were tree populations that provided some cover and concealment, but not enough to hide tanks, obviously. When in range, a firefight erupted immediately. The squad of three aimed their rifles over the turret of the tank and fired towards the enemy. Bullets and magic bolts were whizzing past and clanking on all armor, commands were being yelled and shouted by officers commanding troops, and shells were being fired and returned from both directions; the situation became increasingly hectic. Soon, the opposing armies met each other in the semi-tree populated area of the forest, clashing with each other in what was sure to be a horrendous close quarters battle. In response, both columns of troops split up into smaller groups in an attempt to consolidate and annihilate each other.

"Rocket!" Windfire shouted on the top of his lungs before an anti-armor shell struck the tank they were standing on, the sheer force of the blast knocking them off of the tank and on to the ground hard. The three had the wind knocked out of them, but were alright, save for a few scratches and a bruise. The same couldn't be said for the tank, unfortunately. Windfire was able to get up immediately.

"Helmuth, are you alright?!" Luna shouted, getting up and grabbing her weapon. Helmuth sat up and shook his head, shaking off the disorientation, running and grabbing his weapon off the ground as well.

"Better than ever!" he responded before he cycled the bolt on his gun, and Luna being visibly relieved. The three made their way to the destroyed tank and used it as cover under the hail of gunfire and magic fire heading their way. Looking skyward, the aerial battle was still being waged, and it appeared that after every changeling air unit was taken out, more would come to replace it. They would need to step up their game!

"We got enemy troops, eleven o'clock!" Windfire shouted, firing off his rifle.

"Copy that! Engaging!" Helmuth replied, laying down several rounds, visibly seeing two changelings fall backwards. Another changeling pony took shots at the trio from behind a nearby tree, but quickly ran out of ammo in its rifle's clip.

"To our left!" Luna shouted, squeezing her trigger and striking the aggressor several times in the torso.

"Two more in the front!" Windfire shouted and pointed at two gryphons charging them with assault rifles. He pulled his trigger twice, eliminating the one on the left before Luna finished the one on the right.

"Catch!" Helmuth shouted before he hurled a stick grenade towards the enemy lines, having it explode shortly after in a hail of shrapnel. The guerilla warfare continued for a few more minutes but the trio soon realized that their squad had made no progress forward due to the pressure they were under. The entire line was able to break through but they were holding the forces back from complete advancement.

"Rainbow Dash! We're being pinned down by an unknown number of enemy forces, do you have any units to throw our way?" Luna screamed into her communicator as the firefight raged around them. There was silence on communications for a couple more seconds than she would've liked.

"Oh shit! Tank!" Helmuth shouted, finding two light tanks appearing to support the enemy troops. Luna was getting desperate now.

"Luna! I've got a squadron that can be diverted to you, patching you through!" Dash shouted, much to Luna's relief.

"This is Seelow squadron, at your service, Princess, standing by for close air support," the squadron leader announced, and Luna couldn't have heard more beautiful words.

"Glad to hear from you, Seelow! I've got enemy infantry and tanks, marking their location," she shouted, tossing a smoke grenade to Windfire, who pulled the pin and tossed it out towards the enemy. Helmuth continued to fire valiantly, thinning the enemy out as much as possible. After about fifteen seconds the teal blue smoke filled the area.

"Location confirmed, friendly airstrike on the way, over,"

The three continued their defensive measures until they heard the distinct sound of fast approaching pegasi. Looking up towards the east, one pegasus flew directly over at an alarming speed and continuing onward, dropping several objects which exploded on the ground, followed by another pegasus, and then a third, each dropping a payload that produced deafening explosions and completely decimating the opposition. Luna shouted and cried out in joy after the second explosion. That offered enough room for the trio to advance.

"Target is a confirmed hit, Seelow! Thanks again!" Luna shouted happily towards the sky.

"Just keep making the nights glorious, Princess. Seelow out."

With that, the three advanced further towards the Forest, catching up with the rest of the forces that had been able to move forward. Through some effort, they had all been able to reach the Forest periphery. Now the troops themselves had to move in slowly and advance on Nightmare Temple, the firefight never ceasing the entire way there. Casualty figures stood at approximately six hundred ponies and twenty nine pegasi over the course of two hours.

"91st Corps to Command, we've reached the Forest periphery,"

"Copy that. Form a perimeter on the Forest periphery and do not let anything else in or out. I want twenty-five hundred units to advance on Nightmare Temple, copy?" Twilight asked.

"Loud and Clear, command, dispatching the units,"

With the order given, Luna, Helmuth, and Windfire reloaded and began to tread slowly through the Forest, flanked by troops from different squads on either side. It was definitely a different scenario from when they were last here on recon. Mostly due to the incessant fire in both directions, leading to the fact that this was an actual battle, not a tiny skirmish. The volume of fire in their direction became increasingly heavier as they advanced forward; ultimately forcing them to take cover behind the massive trees.

"Damnit! I can't see anything without risk of getting my head blown off!" Windfire shouted, blindfiring out of cover briefly. Right when he said that a fellow pony soldier dashed out of cover, only to have his neck shot out. Right after that, three massive changelings broke through the brush and eyed the contingent of troops.

"Soldiers!" Helmuth bellowed, adjusting his line of sight. The Soldier Changelings ran right for the trio, completely overpowering and crushing any other troops in their path. One of them took several shots at the Princess of the Night, only to have them blocked by a barrier. When they resorted to close quarters physicalities, Luna was more than prepared this time around. She ducked low under the Soldier's massive horn and gored its neck with her own. With that, she ripped out her horn, unsheathed her own sword and brought it down on the Soldier's head, cleaving it clean several inches before she yanked it out, leaving the body lifeless.

Other troops attempted to draw the fire of the new Changelings but were either flanked by other troops or shot at by the Soldiers themselves. Windfire was lucky and was able to land several well placed shots into the head of one of the distracted Soldiers, bringing it down. Helmuth used his bayonet in conjunction with the actual rifle to bring down the last one.

"We need to keep an eye out for these, they're going to massacre our forces!" Luna remarked, cleaning off her sword before sheathing it and arming her rifle again. They continued to slowly advance forward, encountering more and more resistance as they got inevitably closer to the Temple. More air reinforcements arrived from a nearby base to help out with the air and ground assaults, occasionally being seen swooping low in bombing or strafing runs.

* * *

Twilight was watching the battle from her command post, almost entranced by how it looked from afar with all the lights, explosions, etc. She shook those thoughts from her head before she opened up a connection again:

"Command to Flight Group Kappa, status on the aerial battle?"

"Slow but significant gains, command. The sky is about eighty five percent under our control, but not without marginal losses. Without the reinforcements Kappa has lost about fifty percent of its strength," Dash replied, still sounding like she was engaged.

"Roger that, keep me posted. Command out."

Twilight contacted the ground forces:

"Command to 91st Corps, status report?"

"Engaging what appears to be the last line of changeling defense around Nightmare Temple. Numerous losses; Calling up extra reinforcements from the periphery,"

"Very good, Colonel. Proceed as planned,"

* * *

Luna had run out of ammunition for her rifle and was forced to use her horn again for magic projectiles. It was a gruesome fight so far; she did not expect resistance to be this ferocious. That only led her to draw conclusions that the Nightmare Temple had some significance for the changelings, and something was most likely happening inside.

"Come on… just a little more," Helmuth yelled out. The ponies had been able to surround the complex after enormous amounts of guerilla warfare. Eventually, although almost completely exhausting their supplies, the last of the Changelings fell. With that, troops began moving into the clearing and mopping up small pockets of resistance on the periphery of the Temple clearing. Small paths were cleared for armor to move in as well. The three ponies were resting on the side of a tank, panting and sweating profusely due to all the action.

"Well… that was something…" Helmuth said through his panting, earning a playful punch from Luna on his shoulder.

"You don't say, Helm. How you doing over there, Windfire?"

"I'm alright. So, what happens now?"

At that moment, a familiar purple unicorn showed up among a column of troops.

"What happens now, is that we clear out the temple itself!" Twilight said with a smirk. "Great job on the operation everyone, but now it's time to move on to phase two: seeing what the hell is in here of such importance," Twilight explained. Everypony nodded in agreement.

"And with that, I'll be damned if I let you guys have all the fun. I'm going with you," Twilight said, securing a helmet to her head. She then opened her communicator.

"All units, aerial and ground, keep security on the periphery of Nightmare Temple and the surrounding forest. We're going to flush it out and hopefully this will give us some answers on where to proceed next. Brief Celestia on the situation immediately," Twilight ordered, to which the commanding officers saluted her.

With that, Twilight armed a weapon and she, Luna, Helmuth, and Windfire gazed up at the massive entrance of the enormous temple before slowly and cautiously (with weapons raised) entering the forgotten building, ready to confront whatever awaited them inside.


	11. Corruption

**A/N: And another chapter for you. I really enjoyed writing this one! **

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 11: Corruption

The gang of four slowly but silently walked down the long corridor which was barely lit, save for some light given off by Luna's and Twilight's horn as well as lights on their rifles. It was eerily quiet, and nopony bothered to say anything… one could almost feel the tension and anxiety in the air, especially in Luna. Luna definitely did not want to be here due to certain past events. They were sure to check any doorways that led elsewhere to ensure that there was no ambush waiting.

"What the hell is this place…" Windfire said under his breath and eyes still trained down his gun sights.

"Nightmare Temple… the tomb of an ancient warlord that precedes Equestria by thousands of years. He was reportedly so horrible… the practical incarnation of pure evil… that his spirit never actually left when he died. It splintered into an intangible entity, corrupting all that would let it inside, especially those with weak willpower. I'm living example of that. Nightmare Moon." Luna explained. Windfire didn't really know how to react to that, so he merely nodded in respect for the explanation and continued training his eyes forward.

"Dash, it's Twilight. How's it look outside?" Twilight asked through her communicator.

"Mopping up pickets of resistance here and there. Troops are still holding steady and engaging light pockets of insurgence within the surrounding areas of the temple… Still… I've got a bad feeling. Something doesn't seem right," Rainbow Dash responded, anxiety clear in her voice.

"We'll be out as quick as we can. We need to find out what's in here of importance to the Changelings," Twilight responded, attempting to reassure her marefriend.

"Do what you have to, Twi. We'll keep at it. Update us whenever possible. Major Dash out."

With that, the four advanced forward, noticing that the temple pathway took them on twists and turns but ultimately dragged them deeper and deeper into the temple core. It had been about twenty five minutes and if they had to guess, they were about sixty feet underground. Twilight could literally feel the magic around her… it was like a layer of humidity, if humidity had a sense of foreboding and malevolence about it. Luna was getting really edgy, forcing Helmuth to stay really close to her.

"I really don't like this… please let us just get to the core, see what's going on, and get out. I don't want to be here!" Luna said anxiously. The others were looking at her oddly. Was this the same warrior princess that valiantly led them into battle? The one who faced a gryphon regular army as the spearhead? The one who dealt with casualty figures on a daily basis during the war and was still able to keep a stoic demeanor?

"Then let's double time it. Keep an eye on the sides and watch our back!" Twilight said. The four of them began to force their hind legs to take them as fast as they could to the center. They would gallop, but that would require them to holster their weapons and that was something they did not want to do. After about ten more minutes with not a Changeling in sight and pure silence apart from their own breathing and heartbeats, the hallway lead to a massive doorway. They had reached the core.

Before they entered the massive entrance, they all checked their ammunition count and gear. They didn't know what to expect. Luna took point with the entrance, rifle raised as she walked through. She checked her corners and eyed the _massive_ core room, filled with statues and relics that coursed with dark energy. Oddly enough, the place was lit from an unknown source. She didn't question that, but what she did question was a lone changeling that was in the center, staring at the four… as if it was waiting for them.

"Halt where you stand!" Luna yelled out in her amplified voice, raising her weapon, as did the other three. Upon further investigation (and approaching the figure), it, or she, was easily identifiable. She was the size of an alicorn, a bit taller than Luna, albeit not as toned. She stared at her with emotionless eyes, breathing in and out audibly.

"Chrysalis," Luna said venomously.

"What are you doing here? Explain yourself!" Helmuth and Twilight both yelled out together. Chrysalis did not respond, but merely looked at the four of them before setting her eyes on Luna, locking her eyes to hers. Chrysalis only grinned… a malicious grin that sent light shivers down Luna's spine. With that, magical energy enveloped Chrysalis' figure, forcing the four to step back a few steps to observe what the change would be. The energy swirled around her, completely obscuring her for a good minute before exploding outward. In her place stood a radiant white alicorn with a multi-colored flowing mane and a sun for a cutie mark. She opened her eyes to reveal bright emeralds that stared into their very souls, coupling that with the signature grin from before. Helmuth, Twilight, and Windfire were absolutely horrified at what they saw.

"You… dare… take the form of my sister?" Luna said at a dangerously low tone of voice, her body beginning to course with magic.

"You are nothing compared to me… there is a reason you're called my 'little sister,'" 'Celestia' said in a hurtful, condescending tone of voice which sounded like her own before charging her horn with her own magic. Luna glanced back at the other three.

"Search the core perimeter for anything you might find. I'm the only one powerful enough to handle my sister right now. No matter what happens, do _not_ intervene!" Luna commanded. She wasn't trying to compare herself right now, but everypony knew she was right. She had fought Celestia, the real Celestia, before. She'd be their only chance of survival right now. Knowing that if they intervened, they might get her or themselves killed, they nodded and galloped off to search the area. Before 'Celestia' could target any of them, Luna fired off a bolt of magic, only to have it absorbed by Celestia's horn and thrown back at her. Luna deflected it with a barrier and sent it into a wall. Guns would be of no use in this battle.

"Can't even cast a proper force spell… you really are worthless, Lulu," Celestia stated before firing a hardlight barrier straight at Luna (Celesita's personal move, 'Radiant Shield'). She jumped and dodged it as it almost grazed her rear hooves and slammed into a statue, completely collapsing it. This was going to turn into a battle of magic and physical technique. While many combat spells were universal, Celestia and Luna had very different techniques and variations, ultimately creating their own personalized magic attacks that only they knew. Even the three who were searching the magic relics had to glance at the two and behold their true magical combat prowess.

Luna immediately recovered with her horn coursing maliciously with her blue aura, firing off about two hundred hard-magic rounds in enormously rapid succession (a special skill of Luna's called 'Rapid Fire'). If any normal pony got caught in it, it would have ripped them apart horrifically. 'Celestia' merely put up a deflection spell which caught about fifty of the rounds, but eventually shattered, forcing her to teleport to the side. Luna was concentrated on firing off the spell that it took her almost a couple milliseconds too late before Celestia fired off a large beam. Luna was able to dodge it but it forced her to trip and fall. This stunned her for a split second. Turning her gaze upward, she saw Celestia rising into the air and channeling her magic before firing it off in one large projectile. Luna teleported just in time before the magic collided with her previous position in a fiery and violent explosion (A signature combat move of Celestia's known as 'Super Nova'). The attack sucked a lot of energy out of Celestia, forcing her to catch her breath for a split second. Luna capitalized on this immediately and charged her horn again, time slowing down. Her horn lit up at the base with her aura, before it slowly traveled from base to tip, getting brighter and brighter as it passed each indentation in her appendage, before reaching the tip and exploding with a deafening sound, firing off a large hard-magic round at enormous speed (this was Luna's notorious magical mastery skill, known as the 'Eclipse'). Celestia shielded herself with a barrier but the kinetic energy of the magic was so powerful it completely shattered it (taking the brunt of the round), the recoil forcing her to crash into a wall.

"Impressive. But yet, still not enough," Celestia recovered, albeit with a few scratches. She opened her mouth and, unexpectedly, channeled her command of solar energy, firing off a stream of pure fire (Celestia's 'Solar Breath'). Luna was barely able to shield herself in time and as a result, succumbed to a few excruciating burns.

"Luna!" Helmuth shouted out, but dared not intervene… he knew she was still alive.

The pain revitalizing her, Luna channeled her own magic, opened her mouth, and fired off a beam of pure cold (Luna's 'Absolute Zero'), negating the immediate molten effect around her and pushing the beam of solid fire back to its sender. Celestia ceased the beam and immediately teleported to the air, shooting several high powered bolts toward Luna's direction. She rolled out of the way and returned fire with her rapid fire. Celestia flew at frightening speeds in a circle around Luna, dodging the certain death by mere centimeters. Both were bearing their teeth at how aggressively they were calling upon their magical reserves. Luna's horn seized up from the ten second usage (which fired off a total of about seven thousand hard-magic rounds), and stopped working momentarily to recharge. Celestia charged straight into Luna and tackled her, forcing the both of them to roll on the ground. Luna's magic returned just in time as Celestia fired a Super Nova directly at her. Luna responded by creating a small rift in the space-time in front of her, opening a void into another dimension, absorbing the explosive before closing.

The three other ponies had collected various relics and pure magic holders, anything that could be useful. They felt that something else was more important in the temple itself. They then turned to watch the battle again, completely awed at what they were seeing.

Luna then launched a blue disk from her horn that landed right in front of 'Celestia.' She panicked and dodged out of the way just in time before the disk jumped and exploded outward, creating a small black hole where it once stood (Luna's 'Rupture'), sucking the space-time and everything else into it for fractions of a second before collapsing on itself with enormous force, exploding outward and forcing Luna and Celestia off of their hooves. If anything was caught in the rupture, it would get sucked in and brutally crushed under unthinkable pressure.

The two belligerents were getting very tired and their magical reserves were slowly getting depleted. They were receiving numerous cuts and bruises, not to mention Luna's blistering burns on her left front leg and her torso. Luna recovered first and charged Celestia just as she was getting to her hooves. Luna bucked her straight in the face, drawing blood. Celestia was able to use the momentum from being knocked backwards in order to flare her wings and deliver a heel kick right to Luna's face. However, Luna attempted to dodge and, unfortunately, the kick landed right on the base of her horn. It was a wonder that it didn't fracture on the spot. Luna doubled over on the ground in the most excruciating pain imaginable, tears flowing freely out of her eyes from how much pain was flowing into her right now from her magical appendage. Celestia walked over to her to view her handywork, chuckling.

"Luna, NO!" Helmuth shouted and had to be restrained by Windfire and Twilight. He was beginning to lose it.

"Poor… worthless… incompetent Luna. I'll admit, you gave me a nice fight, but in the end… don't you know that the light always trumps the dark?" 'Celestia' asked, boring into the back of Luna's head (who was sitting up now, albeit still in horrendous pain) with her green orbs for eyes and charging her horn for a finishing spell. At that very instant, Luna knew that her life, as well as the life of her companions were at stake right now. In a last ditch effort, she called upon the deepest, darkest parts of her magical reserve to channel something she had never used, even as her alter-ego.

"**RRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!**" Luna burst out from her sitting position, taking everypony in the room by complete surprise and enveloping herself in her energy while bearing her teeth. She called upon the dark energy from her alter-ego and the temple itself to help fuel her power, forcing the powerful white glare in her eyes (as a result of magical usage) to turn a soulless black. Her mane turned a blood red color and her coat darkened considerably. Veins coursing with magical energy were highlighted as a result, giving the impression that she was bleeding from her eyes and other orifices on her body. Luna had mentioned knowing how to do something like this, how to embrace and control dark magic without reverting to Nightmare Moon. Looking at Luna right now was probably the scariest thing that Twilight, or the others, had ever seen. This was Luna's 'Corruption.'

'Celestia' was stricken with fear at what she was seeing unfold in front of her. Luna then turned her soulless gaze to her with a horrible smile.

"Is something the matter? Does light not destroy the dark?!" Luna asked in a _very_ perverted version of her own voice. 'Celestia' only was able to take one step back.

"Are you having a NIGHTMARE?!" Luna exclaimed before shooting her aura out and enveloping Celestia with it. She began to yell out in panic as Luna's aura wrapped around every appendage and eventually covering her head. Instantly, the unknown source of light in the massive temple core was doused, shrouding the room in pure darkness. All that could be heard was a blood curdling scream that became more and more distorted as time passed by… beginning to sound unnatural before it died completely. The three would forever be haunted by that… scream. The light soon returned to normal, revealing Luna standing over the body of Celestia. The three shook off their stunned demeanors and rushed over. Luna's corrupted aura receded, revealing her in her ripped and torn uniform, eyes clenched closed. She then collapsed on her front hooves and panted heavily. The four then examined 'Celestia's' body: she was dead, that much was certain. But her eyes were open and pure white. The facial expression, combined with the eyes, gave the impression that whatever happened in the dark, she had seen true hell for her last moments. The three silently decided it was a good idea not to question Luna about this, and that was all well. Twilight flared her horn over the body, reverting it back to Chrysalis' form. However, Luna sensed that something wasn't right.

"Twilight… perform the reversion spell again…" Luna asked suspiciously, albeit tiredly. Twilight looked at her oddly before doing a she was told. After performing the spell, Chrysalis' body began to shift again into something smaller.

"It can't be…" Luna began to mutter. After the spell finished, all that was in place of Chrysalis' body was the one of a Mind-ling.

"A… a Mind-ling?" Helmuth asked, uncertain of what he was seeing. Luna was seething with anger, so much that the room was starting to shake.

"The Mind-ling… took Chrysalis' form… which took the form of CELESTIA!" Luna shouted in furor. The other three realized this as well and were not sure what to think of the turn of events.

"We'll deal with that later, Luna, but we were able to acquire some magical essence as well as some relics. They look almost like maps," Twilight stated. Luna nodded while staring off into space, fury evident in her eyes.

"_Come in! Twilight, Come in! Twilight you need to hear this!"_ A voice was shouting frantically. Twilight had taken off her communicator. She immediately planted it on her head again.

"Dash! What is it!?" Twilight asked frantically, as she sounded urgent. She froze up immediately when she heard the next words.

"Ponyville has just been attacked!"

* * *

**A/N: Dun Dun Duuuuuuuuun**


	12. War Comes Home (I)

**A/N: Next chapter is live! Second part will be up within the next day or so... hopefully. **

**Enjoy! :)**

* * *

Chapter 12: War Comes Home (Part I)

Twilight, Windfire, and Helmuth were riding with haste towards Ponyville in an armored chariot, their thoughts only centered upon liberating the town turned city. It had grown over the years enough that it had a sprawling downtown area, just shy of a metropolis. However, pride in that was overshadowed by the fact that it was a larger area to relieve. The war-seasoned Twilight did what she had to do without question, merely internal objection, but the fact that her _home_ was under siege and occupation touched a very tender nerve with her… what was worse was that it was not a militarily occupied area, meaning that there was not a pony base of operations within several tens of miles. This got her thinking… why would the Changelings go through all the effort of remaining undetected (how they did still slipped her mind) in order to capture a civilian area that was, for lack of better words, relatively unimportant? This kept bugging her as she absent mindedly fiddled with her rifle.

Upon exiting Nightmare Temple, Luna was immediately flown back to Canterlot for medical treatment under Celestia's supervision. Despite protests from Helmuth to not leave her side, he was needed in Ponyville, and she assured him that she would recover just fine, also notifying Twilight that she would receive direction from her in her hospital bed. With the Lunar Alicorn Princess out of commission, a direct beacon of inspiration was also out of the question, leaving that burden up to Twilight. Rainbow Dash had regrouped the flight group and made haste to Ponyville, telling Twilight that she would meet her there and ensure that things were softened up. Naturally, the first concern of Twilight was if her friends were alright. Celestia assured her that Pinkie, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Applejack were safe, as nearly the entire city was evacuated upon sighting of the hostile force.

Instantly relieved at that development, the squadron of three rearmed themselves with bolt action rifles and shotguns; rage yet extreme stopping power, combined with close and personal weapons for urban warfare. They were going to do this old-school. Currently, their chariot, along with several others which formed their first strike force, was ten minutes out of Ponyville proper when Twilight received communications.

"Twilight, it's Celestia. I have some news," Celestia stated in her stern 'business-time' voice.

"Go ahead, Princess. What's the situation?" Twilight responded, putting her hoof up to her ear.

"As you know, you're part of the first contact group: Your squad of three and about another 100 Royal Marines. The regular army is en route and is about two hours outside of Ponyville Proper. However, I have a job for you. I've figured out what the Changelings are after," Celestia explained.

"That's been plaguing me the entire ride over… what's the deal?" Twilight asked anxiously, finally wishing to get some answers.

"The Elements of Harmony themselves," Celestia explained.

"I thought they were evacuated?" Twilight asked for confirmation.

"You misunderstand. The _elemental necklaces_ themselves, on top of your tiara!" she confirmed. Twilight's eyes widened in acknowledgement.

"Of course, how could I be so stupid! After the Discord incident you had us keep our own elements with us to spread them out!" Twilight said, having a complete revelation, absent mindedly tracing her facial scar with her hoof.

"That's correct, my student. If the Changelings get their hooves on them, we may lose control of a lot more than Ponyville. Find them!" Celestia said with urgency.

"I won't fail, Princess. I haven't once and I don't plan to start now," Twilight replied with confidence. Celestia gave a firm chortle of affirmation before cutting the connection. Twilight then turned to Helmuth and Windfire.

"Alright you two, as I'm sure you heard, it's time to get the elements. From our drop point on the outskirts, our closest objective is Fluttershy's house: the Elemental Necklace of Kindness. Lock and load, we have our work cut out for us, boys," Twilight said in her soft yet authoritative voice. The two nodded in affirmation and they loaded their rifles and shotguns, ready for combat. Twilight fixed her helmet and uniform right as the APC touched down. Twilight looked up sternly at the two, cycled the bolt forward on her rifle (which was literally as long as her), and gave another curt nod before smiling sardonically:

"To war."

"To war," The other two repeated once before the hatch dropped at the front of the APC, revealing an expansive field flanked on one side by the Everfree forest and rivers, and the other side by brush and more field. In the distance, the downtown of Ponyville could be seen, clearly with Pegasi engaged in the air. Several small plumes of smoke could be seen emanating from the center as well, indicating a modest amount of destruction, and also indicating that the Changelings hadn't been here for the longest time. With that sight taken in, Twilight motioned outward, and the three ran out of the sanctuary of the APC, rifles in hoof. The other soldiers of the strike force followed suit and lined up in front of Twilight.

"Alright Fillies and Gentlecolts, I realize that some of you are veterans of the recently ended Gryphon-Equine war, and many of you are fresh recruits. To the newer recruits, your time of safe firing ranges and simulations cease to exist. _This_ is a _real battle_. And if you screw up now, you're going to know pain like no other… Now, all of us, let's go find us some Elements!" Twilight shouted out, eliciting a nice cheer of inspired soldiers, all ready to fight and give their lives for the safety of their pony sisters and brethren.

"I want Fifty of you to head straight for Ponyville center. The small police force and paramilitary troops will be no match for the Changeling incursion. Give them some relief, GO!" Twilight ordered the right section. They saluted her and made full gallop towards the center of battle.

"Celestia protect them…" Twilight muttered under her breath before turning back to the remaining troops.

"As for the remainder of you, the closest ones from this point are Fluttershy's house, Sweet Apple Acres, and Rainbow Dash's cloud mansion. The Apple plantation will most likely be a command and control Center for invading hostiles, so you'll need all the numbers necessary. Go!" Twilight ordered. They all acknowledged and made haste to their target.

"Alright you two, let's go. The army will be here soon and when that happens, we'll have safe passage out. With haste!" Twilight said as they jogged on their hind legs towards Fluttershy's house, the long rifles swinging in front of them with each of their movements in a perfectly synchronized manner. They soon were in sight of their target, which filled her with more hope.

"Get down!" Windfire yelled out, and instinctually, they all dropped.

"What's going on?!" Twilight whispered loudly, annoyed that their progress was hampered. Windfire pointed towards a column of Changeling drones, accompanied by a Soldier, slowly walking towards Fluttershy's place. It was apparent that they were also searching for the same thing they were.

"Dammit. We can't let them get inside…" Twilight reached down to her belt and cursed again. "I don't have any grenades. Any ideas?" she asked. Helmuth tapped her shoulder.

"I got this," he said coolly. A resounding '_click'_ was followed by Helmuth grunting in exertion as he hurled a flash-bang grenade towards the idly walking column. It came to rest on the ground right in the middle of the advancing group, attracting their attention, before exploding in a blinding light, accompanied by the anguish and screams of blindness.

"NOW!" Helmuth shouted. As if working as one, the three stood up, albeit Windfire kneeled, rifles raised towards the column of struggling Changelings.

"Open Fire!" Twilight ordered, and the three pulled their triggers at the same time. All three high velocity rounds struck the Changeling Soldier in the head and neck, completely dismembering and exploding it before it fell to the ground lifeless. The drones looked around in disarray at the bloody demise of their leader. The three cycled their bolts and continued firing, each high powered round ripping through the enemy troops and knocking them clean off their hooves, the gunfire masking the agony-filled cries. Soon the column was annihilated, and the three proceeded to the house. Twilight breached the door, knocking it off its hinges, rifle raised and searching the living room. The house was undisturbed.

"Alright, I'm sure you have an idea what the adornment looks like. Start rummaging through everything. You both check downstairs, I've got upstairs. Let's do it!" Twilight ordered. They began rummaging as fast as they possibly could, ripping drawers out and searching in any footlockers. Twilight was doing the same thing upstairs, magically overturning the bed and opening the closet.

"Twilight, we've completely overturned the downstairs! We've also checked for any hidden compartments and found none. It has to be upstairs!" Windfire shouted. Just as they were about to ascend and help Twilight, they heard a disturbance outside, making Twilight freeze as well. The two stallions stacked the door and peeked outside. There was an even larger column of Changeling troops advancing on the path, and the moment they caught sight of what remained of their comrades, they galloped to investigate.

"Twilight, we've got company!" Helmuth shouted, reloading his rifle. Twilight became immediately panicked.

"DO. NOT. LET. THEM. INSIDE! I'm almost done up here!" Twilight shouted in desperation, completely destroying the room to find the adornment. Hearing their orders. The two soldiers aimed out the door and began opening fire, exploding the chest cavity of one of the Soldier changelings before firing off a couple more rounds and returning to cover. Magic bolts and a few other lead projectiles began to be returned their way in response.

Hearing the deafening firefight erupting outside, Twilight intensified even more. She then came across one last foot locker buried deep within the closet. She held her breath as she magically opened it. There, sitting in all its shiny gold glory, was the Elemental Necklace of Kindness. She tenderly placed it in a knapsack that she was carrying before rushing downstairs, only to be met with the sight of Helmuth and Windfire fighting off about thirty other Changelings slowly trying to advance on the house. The enemy body count had risen dramatically. Twilight immediately joined in the fight, unclasping her rifle from her back and firing upon the Changelings. They had many close encounters with nearly missing being shot.

"Twilight! What's going on! There's an inordinate amount of activity by Fluttershy's house," Rainbow Dash observed, communicating with Twilight. Her heart swelled.

"You have _no_ idea how glad I am to hear from you, Dashie. We're pinned down by Changeling troops. Think you could lend a hand?!" Twilight asked loudly.

"You know it, Twilight! Hold them off for just a little longer! Dash, out!"

"Air support is on the way, you two. Just a bit more!" Twilight said. The two nodded and continued firing out towards the Changelings, the Soldiers starting to burn through the trio's ammo since their shots couldn't be as precise and calculated due to them being shot at. A drone managed to make it to the front door before it was gored in the neck by a bayonet. Right when it seemed that the trio would have to fall back into the house, a strafing run tore up the pathway, ripping apart several enemy combatants in the process. Turning their attention skyward, Rainbow Dash on her lonesome was gliding through the sky, recovering from her strafing run. The Changelings began to turn their attention towards the cyan pegasus in the sky. With that, Twilight ordered a charge and the three of them ran out with shotguns in hand, completely decimating any other resistance that survived the onslaught of Dash's heavy caliber guns. When they were free of enemy aggression, Dash landed gracefully in front of them, embracing Twilight.

"Seems I didn't arrive too late!" Dash exclaimed, glad to see her friends in one piece.

"Just in time, actually! How's the air battle going?" Twilight inquired.

"It's a hell of a fight, but we've got reinforcements coming in so I expect control of the skies in about twenty minutes or so. When that's done, we can fully devote the attention to the ground… if applicable," Rainbow Dash explained.

"If applicable?"

"The Changelings are pretty entrenched inside the city, and we can't root them out without enormous collateral damage, not to mention the risk of hurting the few hundred civilians that didn't make it out in time and are still trapped. What we can do, is make sure enemy reinforcements stay out of Ponyville," she continued to explain. Twilight acknowledged this with an understanding nod.

"Alright, that should be good enough. We can then clear out the city once we are done grabbing the elem—Dash! Your Elemental Necklace! Did you…" Dash silenced her by holding up her own adornment with a smile.

"Went for it as soon as I heard the communications, Twi. Here, take it," Dash said, handing it to her. "On that note, I need to get back to the air, before I go, is there anything you need? We're responsible for supply drops as well," Dash inquired.

"We could use some ammunition… grenades… and maybe some water?" Twilight counted. She looked at Helmuth and Windfire for affirmation and they agreed.

"You got it, Twi," Dash responded with a smile before putting a hoof to her ear.

"SupCom, I need an Ammo Drop: Class-B and a Supply Drop: Class A. Coordinates at -56.7, -32.4 Ponyville Rectangular Coordinate Grid," Rainbow Dash ordered.

"Request confirmed, Major. On its way!" Supply Command responded. Within a minute, two pegasi flew overhead at frightening speed and dropped two large crates which parachuted to the ground elegantly. Once they touched down, they opened, revealing enough ammunition for the three of them as well as water and some food. Examining the materials, it was exactly what they needed.

"Hope that helps you out, Twi! Feel free to contact me if you need anything else. Also, on Celestia's orders, there's an extra something in there for you and Helm. See you when this is all done!" Rainbow Dash said before kissing Twilight on the lips and dashing off to the skies again. The two took a very small breather, getting some much needed water and some energy from some food before loading up on ammunition again, each of the three strapping about four grenades to their belts. They then were about ready to set off when Twilight remembered what Dash had said. She dug deeper into the ammunition crate when she saw a large case, which was obviously closed and locked, being adorned with an insignia that Twilight hadn't seen in a while:

_HOOF_

Destroying the lock and opening the crate, there lay two sets of upgraded armor for HOOF operatives, one for Helmuth and the other for Twilight. Like clockwork, the two unicorns quickly adorned the plated armor before slipping on the full coverage helmet, closing the looking glass. They then booted up the heads-up-display, full of all the familiar gauges and schematics that they knew all too well during the first war. The case folded over into a second layer, revealing three fully metal and wood, fully furnished EQ-114 Assault Rifles, upgraded with enhanced optical HUD, an under-barrel shotgun, and a foregrip, not to mention enough ammunition to last them. Due to the second attachment, the three could discard their lever action shotguns, just leaving their bayonet clad rifles on their backs. After locking and loading, Twilight made a call through her helmet's communicator:

"Epsilon, this is Twilight. Status report at Sweet Apple Acres?" Twilight asked through her communicator.

"Progress is minimal, ma'am! We were ambushed *cough* *cough* right when we hit the perimeter. I'm counting almost three dozen killed, and I've been hit several times! Direct air support is unavailable until full control of the skies has been established… we could use some help here!" was the reply Twilight received.

"Copy that! Sit tight for just a bit longer, we're on our way!" Twilight shouted. She then turned to her two comrades and nothing more needed to be said. The trio erupted into a full gallop towards Sweet Apple Acres, Twilight's own apprehension fueling her seemingly endless drive. Once arriving on the perimeter, Twilight could make out a group of Changelings attempting to flank what remained of the fifty royal marines. The trio sprang into action, taking their assault rifles off of their backs, running towards the offending group.

"Hostiles right!" a Soldier Changeling bellowed in a deep voice, but that was all that was heard before they were fired upon by Twilight's squad with frightening efficiency. With the flanking group annihilated, Twilight was free to tend to the wounded officer while Helmuth and Windfire covered her, working with the other Marines and firing upon the Apple homestead.

"Captain! What happened?!" Twilight asked as she tended to his several gunshot and magic wounds, the groaning of the other wounded and dying ponies and Changeling alike almost distracting her.

"We were ambushed by several Changeling fireteams. They also opened up on us with entrenched machine guns inside the barn and homestead."

"Do they have the Element?" Twilight asked.

"Uncertain…. Auuugh!" The Captain said with some effort, feeling the pain of his now healing wounds.

"Well, if they haven't found it already, they're damn sure looking for it. Helm, Windfire, we've gotta get in there!" Twilight shouted.

"Roger that, Twi, on your word—" a very loud shot rang out, followed by the sound of a high powered round hitting bare flesh. In an agonizing scream, a Royal Marine clutched his chest before falling to the ground.

"SNIPER! Get down! We can't get in there with that fucker up there. Can anyone get a lock on him?" Windfire asked. A marine volunteered and used his helmet on top of his rifle to attempt to bait the Changeling sniper. The helmet was soon completely destroyed by another round. The overzealous and excited soldier got his position.

"I GOT HIM! He's on the second sto—AAAUUUCH!" another shot rang out as the soldier kneeled up for a brief moment, striking him clean through the neck. He clutched his horrendously bleeding neck before falling to the ground… nopony could save him.

"Dammit!" Twilight said, pounding the ground hard.

"That's it, I'm done with this. We're going in. Form in behind us!" Twilight said, reloading her gun. The captain nodded and barked the necessary orders to his remaining troops.

"On my mark! 3… 2… 1… CHARGE!" Twilight shouted before the ponies all let out a deafening war cry and sprinted towards the barn and homestead. The squad of three immediately took up the role of suppressing fire to force the sniper and other Changelings back into cover. First step was getting to the side of the barn. One pony was killed in the ensuing rush, but the grand total of ten inclusive made it to the barn side. Several Changeling drones walked out the front door of the house and went straight for the barn. Helmuth turned the corner and squeezed the trigger of this assault rifle, literally cutting the four Changelings to pieces. Windfire pulled a flashbang out of his belt while Twilight pulled the pin on a grenade. He rounded the corner and bounced the non-lethal explosive through the large barn door before hearing it explode and blinding its occupants. Twilight then repeated this, only with her lethal grenade. After hearing it explode, undoubtedly taking several with it, they all breached inside.

Right as Twilight entered inside the barn, she was tackled to the ground by a Soldier Changeling with enormous force. Had she not had her HOOF armor, it would have easily cracked her ribcage. Before either the Changeling or Twilight could react, Helmuth jumped on the back of the Soldier, plunging a knife into its neck before snapping it a full 180 degrees, ending its life. This all happened while the rest of the Marines plus Windfire began to deal with the occupants inside, efficiently eliminating them all with no casualties. Helmuth offered a hoof and helped Twilight up. The barn was clear; next was the house itself.

The team split up sufficiently and began to breach through the front and back entrances of the house. The first Marine that breached the front was immediately shot up by a heavy machine gun that was placed inside the house on a table. Reacting quickly, the trio (who breached in from the back entrance of the house) blasted the machinegunner with their shotguns, as well as _completely_ destroying the other Changelings in the area, taking them by surprise. With the downstairs, clear. Helmuth took point and began to head up the stairs. Right as he began to ascend, he aimed upward; Twilight saw his assault rifle fire ten rounds upward, the result being an agonizing sigh and a Soldier Changeling rolling down the stairs in a bloody mess. Helmuth continued the ascent upward with the others following him.

They ascended to the upstairs hallway one by one before they began to attempt clearing the rooms. Helmuth and Windfire kicked in a door and breached it, several shotgun blasts resonating from inside. Twilight and a small group of Marines breached another door. Right as they went inside, a Changeling drone rushed out of another door and took several magic shots at the remaining marines, striking one in the torso, her doubling over in excruciating pain before the offending Changeling was silenced. They cleared the rooms one by one, ransacking them on the way in search of the Element of Honesty adornment. Several other Marines were lost due to surprise attacks from Changeling troops. Eventually, Twilight, Windfire, Helmuth, and two other remaining Marines stacked up on the master bedroom.

"This is the last bedroom, it's gotta be in here!" Windfire reasoned.

"There's hope in it. Twilight, can you get a magic charge on the door?" Helmuth asked.

"Way ahead of you," she replied, conjuring a magical explosive and adhering it to the door. They stacked the wall next to the door as it exploded inwards before the three of them (plus the two marines) dashed inward, raining a hailstorm of bullets from their Assault Rifles in all directions of the room, the screams of the wounded and fallen enemies filling the air as their vision was still obscured from the breaching charge and the steam buildup from the barrels of their guns. With no resistance coming from deep within the bedroom, they stood silently and let the smoke clear, revealing over a dozen drones, Soldiers, and even a Mindling amongst the slaughtered. One thing in particular caught their eye: a shimmering gold neck-piece that was lying on an examination table. Twilight went over and examined it, confirming by its magical aura that it was indeed the necklace. She placed it in her knapsack before making another call.

"Rainbow Dash, it's Twilight! I've got two Elemental adornments on me right now and we're about to head to the third. Any chance we can get any support from the air at this time?" Twilight asked as they began to trot downstairs.

"I'm sorry, Twilight, but that's a negative. All air support is currently engaged! The Changelings are putting up a final stand for air control and we need every available pegasi we can get! You'll have to make do without us for a little while longer, Twi," Rainbow Dash responded. Twilight mumbled a curse in frustration.

"Copy that, Dashie. Twilight out," she said as she cut the call. She turned to the other four combatants as they walked out the front door.

"Alright guys, we've got no air support still. So, we're going to have to make a break for it into Ponyville proper and fight off what we must," Twilight began to speak. As they were about to exit the periphery of Sweet Apple Acres, several new figures emerged in front of them. There were about four Soldier Changelings flanking a taller, leaner, yet muscularly built Changeling that appeared to have some sort of rank insignia adorned on its chest. Luna had gone over the rumored types of Changelings with Twilight, and this one was clearly known as a 'Viceroy,' a very deadly, officer class of the Changeling military hierarchy.

"I see you've made quite the work on my troops… rest assured your onslaught, yet pitiful attempt to regain your city and your elements ends here," the male Viceroy stated coldly. At that instant, Twilight, Helmuth, and Windfire raised their rifles and open fire until the magazines were empty. The five figures stood standing, a green force field destroying the incoming projectiles, shielding them.

"Nice try, but a few bullets won't do so well against pure magic shielding. On that note, Soldiers! Execute them. Let us end this immed—AAACH!" The Viceroy was cut off when a dark blue blur flew down from the sky at impressive speed and materialized right above the Changeling Officer. Time slowed down immensely as Twilight witnessed Princess Luna draw her sword and plunge it straight through the back of the Viceroy and out though his chest as she landed on him. Taking the other Soldier Changelings by surprise, she growled as she pulled her charged horn up and let loose her Rapid Fire on the two Soldiers to the left, completely ripping their bodies apart. Before the ones on the right could react, Luna sprang backwards, sliding on the ground before mounting one of the other Soldiers over his neck and snapping it. The last Changeling charged its horn, but right as he was about to fire, Luna levitated (in a quick-draw fashion) a large revolver-looking pistol that had a crescent moon as the hilt, before firing once, the pistol generating an enormous sound. Needless to say, the Soldier's head was essentially… banished. This entire ordeal happened in a good five seconds. Luna then got up off the lifeless Soldier and went to address her comrades. Twilight noticed that the areas Luna suffered burns on were almost completely healed, save for being able to tell where her coat was regrown.

No one said anything as everypony was in complete shock from the sudden ordeal, and most likely being saved from certain death. Luna stared her friends down before charging at Helmuth, ripping off his helmet, and planting her lips onto his in a sloppy kiss for several seconds, leaving him dazed and happy.

"I figured I'd find you here," Luna commented with a signature smirk.

"Right on time too… We've had too many close calls today," Twilight responded. Luna chuckled sardonically.

"So it would seem. Have you the Elements?" Luna asked. Twilight showed her the three that were in her possession, nodding in approval.

"The army is almost here. If we can grab the others with haste, we will have a safe extraction, and you better believe that I'm coming with you," Luna said, stifling any objections that she may not be up to it. Clearly she was with a stunt like that!

"I wouldn't have it any other way, Luna," Twilight said with a smile, embracing the Princess in a show of friendship and thanks.

"Where to next?" Luna asked, unclasping her rifle from her back and loading it, ready for battle.

"Carousel Boutique."


End file.
